Don't Dance Solo
by Ve1vet R0se
Summary: Miyako, Claire, and Chris enter the Realm of Angels once Angelic Layer comes to America. With their music themed Angels can they achieve the glory they so despearately want? Hiatus
1. Track 01: Hit the Dance Floor

**Ve1's Note: I started this immediately after I finished my other story 'Against the Odds'. Why? I started getting emotional after I finished ATO, I have no clue why. Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this one, please review and feel free to point out what would make the story better or things that I might be doing wrong. Enjoy!**

**-Ve1**

**P.S. I was kinda silly when I was writing this so if no one knows what the word jim-jam means, it means pajamas. D'oh!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Angelic Layer

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"_This is an egg… Filled with a dream." The promo-angel burst out of the egg, landing gently on top of another egg. "You too can enter the Realm of the Angels."_

"Wow. That Angel is pretty!" Claire said in her high-pitched voice.

"Yeah, but I bet it's Deus can't battle for squat. That Angel is all show." Chris snorted back at her friend. "They probably only use it for the commercial's anyway.

"Sure Chris! Just go and burst my bubble!" Claire said angrily, she turned around crossing her arms. A small sigh escaped her, "Still, I wish I could play Angelic Layer."

"What is with that stupid game? Everybody is always talking about it!" Miyako said a little louder than she wanted too. Almost everyone in the studio turned and stared at her. "I swear it's driving me nuts!" she growled.

Miyako, Chris, and Claire were best friends since second grade. They had very few fights, and almost everything yet nothing in common. The trio all attended Oscar's Dance Studio where they had been taking lessons since it opened when they were in third grade.

Chris, a tall, tough, and no nonsense kind of girl, could some times be referred to as the leader. She had bobbed platinum blonde hair, she cut it all off herself when she thought it got in the way. Her eyes were bright brown, with heavy mascara all around. Chris could be really tough, if anyone every picked on Miyako or Claire she gave them the beat down of their lives. She had a short fuse too, but to let out her anger she set up a punching bag in her basement to attack whenever she felt like it.

Claire, the short, skinny, and utterly perky girl of the group. Claire has a high-pitched voice, and is never unhappy. Her hair is long, light brown and put up in a ponytail, her bangs were cut a little unevenly so she sometimes pinned them back. Her eyes are bright blue, so they stick out prettily from her auburn hair. Claire can be considered a crybaby, she got picked on a lot, and she cried for months after a boyfriend broke up with her. Thankfully Chris always beat down anyone that even made her eyes water.

Last but not least we come to Miyako, the cool, quiet, and laid-back girl of the group. Miyako had fire engine red hair put in two high pigtails. She thinks that her hair looks horrible in any other style. Her eyes are bright emerald, but usually hidden under some loose, red, locks of hair. Nothing ever seems to bother or excite her. In short she's pretty emotionless. Miyako makes good grades but she shrugs it all off, and boys are constantly asking her on dates but she turns them all down. Miyako gets lots of 'ninja' or 'Satan worshipper' comments because she mostly wears black with tiny bits of color. Not that she wears the eyeliner, mascara or black lipstick to go with it.

Claire and Miyako were fifteen; Chris was sixteen and already had her driver's license. The trio all attended Seakittie High-School and they were all in the same grade. (The person who founded it had a last name, its not named after a 'sea' or a 'kitty'. And Chris's birthday is in October so she missed the cut off date) All were equally interested in music and dance; they had actually tried starting a band before. The latest hot topic was Angelic Layer. It had just hit Virginia Beach's shores a few days ago. Only a few people had ACTUALLY bought Angels, it wasn't very popular yet anyway. The whole Angelic Layer thing had almost driven Miyako over the edge.

"It's supposed to be the best game Japan has to offer." Claire said giving Miyako a curious look. The red head ended up just rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, supposed to be fun. It's little dolls beating up other dolls, doesn't sound HALF bad. I only wish Barbie could do that…" Chris said her Barbie comment silently.

"I say after practice we all go over to the mall and get some Angels of our own." Claire suggested. Obviously she had sunken her teeth into this and was not going to let the subject go easily.

"WHY? It's a stupid game." Miyako was pretty irritated. It took a lot to make her irritated and not the usual cool and collected Miyako.

"Miyako! Your going! Maybe if you played it and you didn't like it then you could make fun of it all you want."

"I'm not going!" she growled, relieved that Oscar told them their break was up and it was time for practice.

"I can't believe I'm going." Miyako crossed her arms. Chris smirked, she didn't want to admit it but she was actually excited about getting her own Angel.

"Stop being a grumpykins! Lighten up! It'll be fun!" Claire turned around from the passengers seat next to Chris to look at Miyako.

"We can only be there a little while, my brother needs his car back by seven and it's five forty five. It'll be six by the time we're there." The blonde said, trying to get off the subject of Angelic Layer. It was obviously putting her friend in a bad mood. She pulled into a parking spot close to the mall entrance.

With some help from Chris, Claire was able to drag a less than unwilling Miyako into the Piffle Princess store.

It was brightly lit; decorate in baby blue and white with toys as far as the eye could see. Store clerks (mostly women) were dressed in white dresses with little angel wings and bore the Piffle Princess and Angelic Layer logo. Everything was cute and frilly, to Chris's horror, and Claire's delight.

The section they were keeping an eye out for was the less powder-puffy Angelic Layer. There was a huge space reserved, it must have been muy importante (very important). Long straight Angel hair decorated the shelves, in color order in every shade imaginable. Angel eggs themselves were in the middle piled high almost to the ceiling. Accessories, Home Layers, Beginner's Guides, Angel Armor, anything and everything about Angelic Layer was all crammed in to create a dazzling display. Even Miyako was amazed.

Now slightly more willing Miyako stepped over to the Angel eggs. Chris and Claire each grabbed one and giggled to themselves, one was shoved into Miyako's hand. Claire darted off towards the pink shades of hair, while Chris went to the black shades. Miyako was left alone, to stare at this little object in her hands.

"May I help you miss?" a clerk asked Miyako's back cheerfully.

"CRAP I DIDN'T DO IT!" Miyako leapt a few inches in the air, scared. The egg went flying too; thankfully she caught it after she landed. Clutching the winged orb tightly the frightened girl spun around to look at the clerk. "Oh, uh, I was going to buy an Angel and… can you help me figure out what I'll need?"

She must have been scared, since now she _wanted _to buy this Angel.

"Right this way miss." The clerk rested a gentle hand on her shoulder directing Miyako to the Angel hair first.

Chris watched as her friend got scared and jumped into the air. She couldn't help but chuckle. Turning back to what she had been originally doing Chris pulled a shade of black off the shelf. It was shiny, glittery, no… metallic. In the light It changed from black to silver, how cool! She decided to go with this color. Turning back to Miyako she watched as a store clerk took her friend off to another section of the Angel hair. _I'll just leave her alone._ Chris thought heading off to the Angel Armor section now.

"We have a lot of new features for the American debut of Angelic Layer. Your Angel can now have a voice and have a weapon."

"Whoa…" Miyako mumbled. She twiddled with the soft, tiny, wig in her hand. She had pulled a shiny silver color off the shelf, for no apparent reason at all. "Where can I get the weapon at?"

The clerk giggled, "Right over there Miss Miyako." She bent down and whispered this part, "If you wait one second I'll show you some special weapons we just got in today!"

Miyako smiled one of her rare smiles and whispered back, "Please and Thank you."

She watched as the clerk darted behind the counter, opening up a locked drawer with a pink key. Making sure no one was looking she quickly pulled out three, beautifully crafted Angel Weapons. There was a silver bass guitar like weapon, with red strings. The second was a long, white, sword with a blue hilt and shiny blade. And one long pink baton, with purple ribbons at the top and bottom.

Instantly Miyako picked the bass guitar, it would make an interesting weapon but it felt heavy enough to do some serious damage. The clerk smiled, "Weapons can only be used in certain battles but they are handy when you can use them. That guitar can actually be played by Angels in the Layer."

The red head nodded, smiling gratefully, "Thank you so much for your help. I have to go get my Data computer, a scanner, the cord, and the armor. Thanks again!" Miyako darted, almost skipped off to the Data computers.

It seemed Claire and Chris had already made their purchases, they were outside talking up a storm. Not wanting to slow them down Miyako picked out her computer, a scanner, and armor quickly. She picked a strong lightweight armor with lots of different colors. The cord selection was hard though.

There were pink cords, black cords, blue cords, cords shaped like cat ears, and etcetera. One stuck out over the rest though, a red cord with a black music note. It seemed to just call, 'Pick Me. Pick Me.' to the red head. She snatched the cord off the shelf and ran to the cash register.

The two other girls were having a blast tormenting their friend on the way home. She had actually spent over fifty dollars on a toy. That was something very un-Miyako like. "So what weapon did you pick Miyako?" Claire asked, this time she was in the back seat and her friend in the passenger seat.

"A guitar."

The car was silent, before two voices burst out laughing.

"A GUITAR? HAHAHAHAHA!" Claire giggled up a storm, rolling back and forth, as much as she could with a seat belt on, in the back seat. "Whew… I picked a pink scepter."

"And you're laughing at me? You picked a pink stick!" Miyako fake laughed, not impressing her friends.

"I got a sword. Nothing special but it'll get the job done- Hey Miyako this is your stop!" Chris screeched to a halt, almost passing Miyako's house.

The auburn and red head flew forward, despite the seat belts. Miyako opened the door and got out, resisting the urge to yell 'LAND!'

"Open near a bathtub or sink or in a place with a drain." Miyako read the directions out loud. She was already in her bathroom with her Piffle Princess purchases and dressed in her ninja jim-jams; which were actually just black pajamas with lots of ninja stars printed on the pants. "Alright so I just open this…" The shock-absorbent liquid flowed out of the egg into her blue sink. "Wash with Luke-warm water." Miyako read while pulling the base doll from it's egg.

She paused a moment to examine the base doll, "She's kind of creepy looking." Miyako summarized after thinking for about half a minute. The rest of the shock-absorbent liquid was washed off the doll and the red head was set of the next step.

_Snip. Snip. _Miyako cut off some of the silver hair, back in her room of course. She didn't cut off too terribly much; she intended to braid it so she wanted it long. "Perfect!" she thought, placing the hair on the doll's head.

"Now I just put these two rings here… and…" the scanner hummed as a bright light shot between the two rings and just floated there. "Cool. Now I put her in the scanner, and wah la!"

The base doll floated in the humming scanner, and the data computer popped to life. "Please Type your name." The computer asked.

_Haya, Miyako_

"Speed or Power?"

_Speed _she selected.

"Lightweight or Heavyweight?"

_Lightweight_

"Balance or Defense?"

_Defense_

There were several different options, you could choose a minimum of two choices, and so you could have an emphasis on anything. Miyako just decided to go with all three to be on the safe side. She clicked on several different things, eye color, gender, hairstyle, and etcetera.

"Please give your Angel a name."

_Haru_

The scanner hummed once more, the tallish Angel rising from the scanner. Two bright crimson eyes opened, blinking and staring blankly at it's new Deus.

"Haru! I've made my Angel!" Miyako actually seemed excited about this whole Angelic Layer thing.


	2. Track 02: The Beat Goes On

**Ve1's Note: Not much to say except that I wanted it to sound like that the girls were all music-loving, dance-a-holics and that I am not trying to steal Fumika's idea of a talking Angel. The voices thing, that a special program they can buy for a huge amount of money and they have to _command _what they want the Angel to say. D'oh!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Angelic Layer, just meh girls.

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**Grcefuldncer: **Hey guys! Lyke whats up?

**Rocknrolla: **Nothing much, Claire

**Hrdc0re: **Nuttin

**Rocknrolla: **I made my Angel

**Hrdc0re: **Really Miyako? Your not pullin our leg?

**Rocknrolla: **I'm serious. Have you guys made costumes yet?

**Grcefuldncer: **No

**Hrdc0re: **Nope

**Rocknrolla: **Want to come over to my house and make costumes, since it's Saturday?

**Hrdc0re: **Kay

**Grcefuldncer: **I'm free 2 day so it's not a problem. Should we head over now?

**Rocknrolla:** Sure

**Grcefuldncer: **Kay! I'll be over in a sec

_Grcefuldncer has signed off. Hrdc0re has signed off_ . 

Miyako pulled away from her computer, signing off instant messenger herself. It was a nice day, and since there was no school today the trio could make battle costumes. Instead of being stubborn about the whole Angelic Layer thing, Miyako was actually excited about entering the Realm of Angels.

The silver haired Angel sat on her desk, wrapped in a few tissues. She hadn't gotten around to braiding the Angel's long messy hair yet. _I wonder what their Angels look like. I should probably go get my sewing stuff set up for when they get here. _Miyako stood up and headed out of her room and began descending her stairs. It took about fifteen minutes to gather all the supplies they would probably need and get it up to her room, but by then Chris and Claire had arrived.

"Mimi we're here!" Claire's high-pitched voice rung through the hallway. The sound caught Miyako's attention; she shuddered at Claire's irritating little nickname for her.

"Yo." Miyako slid down her railing to the tiled floor below and met her friends. Each had a gym bag; stuffed with sewing supplies and things they had bought yesterday probably. "I having the sewing machine set up in my room. Let's go."

The trio raced each other to Miyako's gray and dark blue room. Claire immediately opened the window, letting in a warm breeze in. To tell the truth Claire couldn't stand being in Miyako's room without opening every window and turning on every light. It was too dark for her, too scary looking. Even thought in reality it was like a normal room just painted with dark colors.

On the other hand Chris felt right at home in Miyako's room. Though she could do without all the BeTween posters and ninja drawings that lined a wall near her desk. She had always wanted to point out a few things that would make the room cozier, but did not for fear of insulting her best friend.

A sewing machine was set up on a card table near the window, with a fold out chair. Lots of sewing scissors, thimbles, pins, rotary cutters, and cutting mats were scattered on the floor. Extra fabrics, like pinks and colors Miyako probably was not going to use were folded neatly near the cutting mats. Extra accessories, like little paint jars, fake jewels, and thread of every color were clumped together next to the fabric.

"Alright! Let's get started!" Chris said excitedly. Her friends nodded, Miyako left the room to go get Haru. Chris and Claire sat in the middle of the room, both pulling out their Angels when Miyako reappeared next to them. "This is Metallica." Chris announced proudly pulling a large Angel from her gym bag.

The Angel was dressed in one of Chris's, younger sister's Barbie shirts. Which was originally pink but she had attacked it with a black sharpie. Her hair was the metallic black Chris picked out yesterday, cut to look spiky at the end, with spiky bangs. Metallica's eyes were closed but they were black underneath her closed eyelids. More than likely she was built for defense, with some power.

"Well this is Shani, her name means marvelous. Which is what she will be of course." Claire added a giggle there, which pulling out a small Angel.

Shani was probably built for an emphasis on speed, considering her lack in height. Her hair was long and colored a navy blue, to everyone's surprise. The ends were very neat, cut perfectly straight along with her bangs. The color for her eyes Claire chose was baby blue, to no ones surprise. Claire had always loved her own powder blue eyes, and was now passing the same eye color to her angel.

"This is Haru, I think her name means a spring wind. Or was it born in the spring?" Miyako couldn't remember clearly. She lifted up the silver haired Angel with her hand. The other two nodded looking quite fascinated.

They immediately got to work afterwards, Miyako started tracing out designs for Haru's costumes. Chris began cutting out some black fabric in a pattern she had already drawn on the fabric, and Claire took over the sewing machine.

Around three o' clock they all sighed in unison. Brown eyes met blue eyes, which met green eyes, which met brown eyes. They all stared at each other before asking, "Are you done with your costume yet?"

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"Uh Huh." (Which means yes)

The trio all turned away from each other to dress their Angels. Chris was the first one done. She held up Metallica with a proud grin on her face.

Metallica wore a dark blue, metallic spaghetti-strap shirt that puckered right underneath the chest and flared out covering just above her waist. She wore a black, tight fitting miniskirt that looked like sequins were decorated all over it. Dark blue fishnet stocking were worn under her skirt and met the ankle-high, black boots with a really high heel. Underneath her shirt was a fishnet top that went all the way to her wrists, and then met a pair of black gloves with a sharp claw on each finger. Somehow Chris had added neon blue streaks to Metallica's hair, with a neon blue clip in the back she fashioned from a safety pin. The Angel wore heavy make-up too; Chris had put something like blue mascara on Metallica and black eye shadow, with some blue lipstick.

Claire shuddered at the Angel but smiled weakly, "She's neat. Here's Shani."

Claire was so predictable; she made her Angel like the night of the living pink lollipop. Shani was dressed in a ballerina's outfit, all pink, but the tutu hung more loosely and around mid-thigh. A little pink bow was tied on the chest to add to the all-around cuteness. A big pink bow was tied around her neck and the bow itself was on the back of her neck, hidden under the thick dark blue hair. Long pink, semi-transparent stockings came down from under the tutu and met pink slippers with ribbons tied around her legs. The final touch were pink gloves to protect her arm joints and a little bit of pastel pink lipstick. The dark blue hair dangled freely around her ankles.

It was Chris's turn to shudder; Miyako just nodded and flashed a smile.

"My turn!" Miyako cried, more happily than usual.

Haru wasn't as, for a lack of a better word, punked-out as Metallica; or as kawaii, sugar coated, who-needs-a-care-bear-hug as Shani was either. The silver haired fighter was dressed in a black sleeveless shirt, with a wide collar covering her neck and a large red music note; that was partly separated because of a black zipper running the length of the shirt. Haru didn't have as many joints as say a speed Angel would so she need less protection. On her arms she put spandex-like silver cloth around the elbow, up to almost meet the shirt and halfway down to her wrist. On her hands Haru wore black fingerless gloves with a red music note like the one on her shirt. She wore tight fitting, black shorts covered over by a strange red skirt that was cut on each side and was held together by a black music note belt. Over her knees she wore something like skate pads; spandex, then a hard piece of plastic with a red music note and then a little more, black spandex. And finally black, sneaker like shoes with a red design on it, take a wild guess at the design.

Claire nodded in approval and Chris gave a tiny clap. "Cool!"

"She's very original! Lots of music notes!" Claire announced stealing another glance at Miyako's Angel.

"I like Metallica and Shani, they're both really well done."

The three all sighed, before Miyako broke the silence again, "Hey look, Metallica is the biggest, Haru is medium, and Shani is the smallest. That's kind of weird how we all chose different parameters."

Chris and Claire nodded, noticing this too. Claire seemed a little sad that her's was the smallest. "They're all different themes too. Claire is classical, Metallica is punk or goth or whatever.'

"Metal." Chris corrected.

"Yeah, and Haru is like pop. Or is she rock?" Claire asked, leaning forward to look at the angel, then her friend.

"Pop I guess, maybe a little bit of both. Stop asking me hard question!" Miyako's last sentence was supposed to be funny, and it did make her two other friends giggle.

"So exactly how are we supposed to battle with these guys?" She then asked holding up Haru and examining her, "I don't exactly see an on switch…"

Claire and Chris must have known all about this Angelic Layer thing.

"I think it's time we get in a little practice." Chris announced with an evil smirk.

Claire smiled and stifled a happy giggle.

Miyako gulped, Chris's evil smirks meant only one thing…


	3. Track 03: Rock on Metallica!

**Ve1's Note: I don't know where to begin, just want to say that… I MISS SAKURA-CHAN! (Cries) and I made a C2 called Americas New Pastime, with some fan fics you might recognize. Chapters in this story might come slower than they did in ATO probably because I'm making every chapter at LEAST four pages in M. Word.**

**Disclaimer: If only…

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Chris's smirks always meant she was going to pretty much humiliate Miyako or Claire. It was Miyako's turn to be humiliated, at the Piffle Princess practice center she dragged Miyako into going to. It was exactly humiliation but trust me, Miyako was pretty embarassed

"So… How do I make her move?" Miyako asked, looking from the lifeless Haru to her friends.

Metallica was doing some break dance moves while Shani twirled on her tippy-toes. Claire and Chris looked up at her; and the other two Angels stopped dancing and followed their Deus's gazes. "You've got to _think _of what you want her to do. Think 'Open your eyes' or think 'Bust a move'" Chris grinned; Claire rolled her eyes at the 'Bust a move' thing.

Miyako blinked inside her blue and purple headset, "Sounds simple." _Uhhh… Open your eyes Haru._ It took a moment, but slowly the Angel came to life on the layer. She blinked her crimson red eyes a few times before turning and staring up at Miyako. "AWESOME!" Miyako sure was not acting as cool and collected as usual. "SHE DID SOMETHING!"

Claire bit her tongue so hard it began to bleed; she was trying not to burst out laughing. Chris made some snorting like laughs as she bit her lip.

"It is so not funny!" Miyako crossed her arms and growled. Haru spun around on one leg, stuck her arms straight out, closed her eyes, and fell on her back. "What the crap! Haru!" She leaned forward, staring at her Angel. _Get up! _The Angel, with her arms still out and eyes closed, suddenly leaped up on her feet.

Claire started laughing so hard she was crying, Chris followed her lead. Angels are guided by their Deus's hearts, so both Shani and Metallica fell over laughing silently. Literally. They looked like they were laughing but no noise came out, the girls had forgotten to buy voices too.

"What's so funny!" Miyako almost snarled.

"Your Angel! You've got to concentrate on Haru or she'll shut down." Claire said, gasping for breath and wiping a tear from her eye. Chris went back to making her Angel dance, while Shani looked like she was doing crunches.

_I'll pay more attention to you now. Now… Let's try 'Bust a move' or whatever Chris said. _The 'bust a move' thing triggered an image in her mind, she thought of Oscar playing around with and doing the worm. Before Miyako could do anything she found Haru lying on the layer doing… the worm! _Hey! _

She started cracking up, causing her friend to turn around and stare at her. Chris was the first to comment, "Are you trying to make her look like a dying fish?"

"No! I-I- it was an accident... I-I...Oh forget it." Miyako shook a hand at Chris, signaling her friend to turn around. _All right, let's not do the worm. How about a cartwheel? _It was a shaky cartwheel but Haru managed to spin around and land well. _Somersault? _The command was sent and it was obeyed.

_This is so cool…

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Practice continued for about two more hours before the girls packed up and left. Chris mysteriously disappeared saying she had some business to attend to, leaving Miyako and Claire to wander the boardwalk out of boredom.

"So… How much progress did you make with Haru?"

"I'm able to move her now if that's what you mean. What about you? It Shani easy to move?"

"Yeah! She's really fast too!"

"No kidding you put and emphasis on her speed." Miyako and Claire starting heading towards their favorite ice cream stand after nearing some of the shops.

"You be quiet! You're just like Chris! Ruin all my fun!" Claire crossed her arms and fake-pouted keeping her eyes low while Miyako ordered their usual favorite cones.

"Fine. To make it up to you I'll pay. Just stop with those big watery eyes." Even with her eyes down Miyako could still catch a glimpse of those big, watery, blue eyes that always melted her heart. She hated them.

"Hehe! Works every time!" Claire giggled when Miyako handed her a big cone of pink strawberry-banana flavored ice cream. Something about that girl and pink.

The other girl didn't care to comment on that; she licked off some blue bubble-gum flavored ice cream. The reason that ice-cream stand was so special was because it was the only one that sold bubble-gum and strawberry-banana ice cream. A very strange little stand indeed.

Claire continued taking large licks off her cone before noticing Miyako had stopped to stare at something in a little shop. "Mimi?"

It was strange that her friend's head didn't snap around and yell at her about calling her that. She was too wrapped up in what she was looking at. She didn't even notice when a little bit of blue ice cream dripped on her favorite black shirt (though you can't tell the difference between her other black shirts, she just likes this one best).

"Mimi! What are you-" she paused and gasped, "OMIGOSH! It's Metallica!" The few other people near the shop at the time turned to stare at the origin of the high-pitched scream. A small toddler actually started crying.

_"Angelic Fight!" the announcer cried._

_Metallica held her sword in her right hand and signaled with her left hand for the other Angel to 'Bring it on' in Chris's terms._

_Metallica's opponent was an insanely large Angel, probably a power type, "Let me warn you Metallica. You shall not win." The Angel cried in a deep yet feminine voice._

"That Angel has a voice!" Claire cried, not as loudly as before.

"And she's huge!"

"Chris can't beat _THAT!_"

_The defense Angel just stayed in the same position, but it was obvious Chris was getting irritated with the Deus. "We'll see! Do your best Metallica!" the blonde girl cried to her Angel._

_"Turi always wins! And that's not going to change because of some rookie!"_

_"Don't count your chickens before they hatch."_

_"Turi" her opponent became enraged, she charged for the smaller Angel going s fast as she could. Even though power Angels were pretty slow she seemed to muster up a lot of speed._

_In a flash the battle was over. Metallica soared over her opponent, flipped in the air, and delivered a strong blow with her sword. The supposedly fake metal made a realistic clang as it hit Turi's armor and forced the other Angel off the layer._

_"NOOOOOO!" was the power Angel's final words as it became lifeless upon falling out of the layer._

_"BOOYAH!" the camera turned back to Chris who stood up out of her chair and starting cackling and striking poses. Metallica stuck her tongue out and struck a pose by crossing her legs and raising her hands high above her head._

_"Angel Metallica and Deus Christina- I mean Chris win!" the announcer looked worried when he said Chris's real name. The girl and Angel shot a glare as the 'Tina' was mentioned at the end of 'Chris'_

"SHE WON!" Claire latched onto Miyako leaping up and down, "I just knew she'd win!"

_Sure you did… _Miyako thought before she concentrated on the situation at hand, "Cla-ire… I ca-n't… b-re-e-eath…" Miyako managed to murmur, even though it only made Claire's death hug tighter. 'Breath' came out sounding like 'B-uh-uh-ree-ee-tuh'.

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**7:15, May 21st**

**RocknRolla: **Why didn't you tell us you were battling at a public tournament?

**Hrdc0re: (**gaspeth) Must've slipped my mind. You watched?

**RocknRolla: **Yeah it was on TV. And tell me what's going on.

**Hrdc0re: **All right… If you and Claire were there I wouldn't have been able 2 concentrate on the battle.

**RocknRolla: **Really?

**Hrdc0re: **Really Really. I was thinking that I would mess up and you two would be a whole lot better than me, but that only happened when I was around you 2. You guys know how competitive I can be. So 2 day after practice I didn't tell you so I could concentrate on my own battle, than concentrate on screwing up my own battle.

**RocknRolla: **That makes sense. Hey, its only 7:20 want to come over for a sleepover? The parentals are gone for the weekend and the minis (her younger siblings) are with them, I'm sure it'll be all right.

**Hrdc0re: **Well you already know my parents and our mini (her little brother) is with them so it'll be all right if I let the dogs out and turn on the security. Let me pack up and I'll be over. Thanks.

**RocknRolla: **'Kay. Bring Metallica okay?

**Hrdc0re: **Of course. If it isn't any trouble I was going to go to the mall and buy a voice for Metallica, that Angel with a voice made me jealous. Would ya like to come too? I think we could put our money together and buy one voice machine.

**RocknRolla: **Sure! That Angel made me jealous too X3. You drive?

**Hrdc0re: **Duh. Let me hop off and finish packing and I'll be over in say… twenty minutes?

**RocknRolla: **Lol. 'Kay. Ciao

**Hrdc0re: **Ciao

_Hrdc0re has signed off._

"So we're going to get you a voice Haru? Would you like that?" Miyako stared at the Angel resting on top of her computer, "Oh gawd… I'm talking to myself. I'm talking to a toy! That can't be healthy." The red head put her hand on her forehand after moving some crimson bangs out of her face.

"Still a voice will be cool." She mumbled after a minute in silence. A few more messages popped up on her computer reading:

**Metgirl4eva: **Word has it you got an Angel.

**JOCrcks124:** Saw your friend on TV today. Do you play AL too now? 

**Lghingupatjoo: **Will you go out with me?

Miyako's finger flew across the keyboard answering the messages in order: Yes, Yes, and Never. She then signed off before any other messages could disrupt her thoughts.

Glancing down at her current outfit she groaned, her black shirt that now had a blue stain (though it's hard to see), black cargos that were a little dirty from sand when they had walked the boardwalk earlier, and her hair was uncombed and messy. "Got to go get ready." She mumbled, picking up the silver haired Angel and heading to her dresser.

Chris picked up the wolf-shaped knocker and dropped it making a loud '_CLANG!_' when she did. There was a screeching sound inside and Miyako slid down the railing like usual and then trotted across the marble floor to greet her friend. Chris was rather glad she and her friend lived in the same neighborhood. What she did not like was that people sometimes called them spoiled because to be truthful their houses were huge. Miyako didn't mind it but she never felt she needed the space but Chris hated small cramped places and was quite content in her house.

"We have a doorbell you know." Miyako said in a fake grumbling voice, opening the door and pressing the doorbell herself. A ringing noise seemed to come from everywhere in the house.

"But where's the fun in that?" Chris shot her a silly grin, "Can we go inside already this stuff is heavy.

"Bring your punching bag again?" Miyako asked, Chris had one time brought her punching bag and set it up in Miyako's basement.

The was a small grumbling noise that came from Chris, "No! And I was twelve, I was stupid then."

_Like your not now?_ Miyako was about to say before stopping herself and thought it was too easy.

"Well I brought my money, and Metallica, ready to go?" the blonde dug out her Angel from her bag, and turned to look at her friend. It was then she finally noticed that Miyako was looking so grungy and scruffy at usual. Her hair was a little damp and in the usual curly pig tails, but her black shirt was crisp and clean with fresh black cargos with sky blue lining. She wore a choker with a sky blue star and black and black Vans that looked new too. "… You… look nice?" she gave her look of pure confusion.

Miyako glanced down at her outfit, "Really? It seems kind of normal."

"Well your not grungy like usual…" she mumbled opening the door to head out with her friend.

"What was that-? I am so not grungy!"

They began to debate this all the way to Piffle Princess.

"Goodness!" the both said in unison when they looked at the price tag. Sixty bucks for a little machine, but you could reuse it. "It's a freaking voice box."

"Yes. Mister Mihara made it over priced but it's the rules of supply and demand. So many people wanted it but everyone must be programmed specially and only a few come out of the factory everyday." The clerk said, it was the same one that helped Miyako out of Friday. The two found out her name was Lynette.

"Well…" they both looked at each other with a pained look. "I guess it's only thirty dollars from each of us so…"

The both turned away from each other counting their money. Miyako had forty dollars and Chris had fifty so they were both okay, it still left them ten and twenty dollars.

"But you know… If you put in an order for your Angel card here we give you a small discount…" Lynette said, lying, but trying to help them out. "Have either of you battled in a public tournament?"

"I did." Chris said. Miyako shook her head 'no'.

"I can give you a five dollars discount then. It's not much but it helps." Lynette said, trotting behind the counter and handing Chris a form to fill out.

"I'll pay thirty dollars and you pay twenty five. Okay?" she said to Miyako.

The red head smiled at her friend, Chris really could be nice if you got past her little force field that kept her isolated from everyone but her closest friends.

The two paid for the machine and decided to leave, now left with only a little money to get by for the next week. Miyako probably wasn't going to be able to buy lunch for two days unless she found some money in her sibling's rooms.

"That thing better be getting up and doing our dishes every morning." Miyako announced to her friend.

"And walking the dogs." Chris added. The both giggled at their own silliness. "The mall is closing in a few minutes so we better get out. Anyway it's really late and if we want to give them voice tonight we better move fast.

"And you hook this into the outlet… and… done!" Miyako cried from her side of the room, after hooking the final plug into her outlet. All these wires and plugs for just a toy seemed pretty silly. "I'm going to be really scared to look at the electric bill after this…"

"This is going to take forever!" Chris stared at the screen, focused on all the sound waves, and voices listed on the device. A teeny tiny cord was hooked into Metallica's back so the data could be downloaded to her system. "There's so many voices." She played one that sounded like a dying frog, and immediately turned it off.

Miyako sighed, waiting for her to choose a voice. It took about fifteen minutes, and those minutes lasted FOREVER. Chris finally cried out victoriously that she found the _perfect _voice. It was a semi-high-pitched voice that sounded sort of dark too.

The voice device was hooked into Haru's back now and it was Miyako's turn to choose a voice. It took only about half a second, she clicked on number seven which played a voice that sounded feminine, but sort of cocky, but playful, all at the same time. "That one." She said, ready to click 'download'.

"But you only listened to one voice!"

"But that is most definitely a _Haru voice_." She said clicking the big red 'download' button.

"You just freak me out sometimes…"


	4. Track 04: Dance with me, Haru!

**Ve1vet's Note: Thanks DayDreamer9, Motokonobaka, Fumika, and Breeze-chan for the reviews. (Even though breeze just tells me if she likes it or not). I read every one and always smile. 'Cause when I'm down, when I'm tired, when I'm sad, angry, or mad they always help cheer me up, and make me feel loved. I feel like my heart has been ripped in two and stomped on due to recent events, but they always keep me going and I thank you guys a lot for that.**

**This chapter came out a little short. Sorry!**

**Disclaimer: Angelic Layer belongs to the awesome Clamp. And DDR is copyright the awesome people who made it and all their awesomeness.

* * *

**

_So drop the Bomb… _the songs rock/techno music continued till the end as Chris and Miyako finished their game of Dance Dance Revolution. Drop the Bomb was one of Chris's favorite songs to play. While Miyako thought it was hard and preferred Butterfly.

Oscar was really nice, even nice enough to spend money on a DDR machine. On fifteen-minute breaks everyone crowded around the large machine to usually watch Miyako and Claire, but in this case Miyako and Chris, battle each other in the game on the most difficult of dances. What can I say? The girls are DDR champions; they could waste fifty dollars in quarters by playing this game alone. It was also good practice right before a recital or something that involved precise movement exactly at the right time.

Chris grinned as she managed to beat her friend by about one hundred points. Miyako crossed her arms over her chest and said that one of the pads had suddenly stopped working.

In an attempt to cheer her up, even though Miyako was definitely faking it, Chris asked if she would like to battle in a public tournament that was being held on the beach. Miyako's eyes lit up and she vigorously nodded 'Yes'. Chris and Miyako changed and signed out for today, said good-bye to Oscar and left the studio.

"Didja bring Haru?"

"Yes, I carry her around everywhere." Miyako pulled out her silver-haired Angel as proof.

Chris nodded, and her eyes widened as she saw something a little farther down the sidewalk. Since I've never mentioned this before I will say it now; Chris is always on the 'boy lookout' she goes kind of nuts around cute boys. "Oooo! Boy!" she pointed and almost squealed.

Miyako followed her pointed and her eyes widened too. The boy Chris just HAD to point out was a guy named Rick Lowenthal, aka the guy who Miyako had a crush on since she was twelve. He was much taller than she was, bright brown eyes and light brown hair, and was on the soccer team. Instantly she turned away and walked to a railing separating the sidewalk from the street.

Her friend only smirked at her behavior. And we all know what her smirks mean… total humiliation. "YO RICKY!" she called at him waving an arm in the air.

Miyako was so ready to spin around and just deck Chris in the jaw. Rick glanced in their direction, walking over towards Chris and Miyako.

"What are you doing?" the red head whispered to the blonde.

"Introducing you." She said happily. "Hey Ricky." She said as he approached.

"'Sup Chris?" he asked, apparently already knowing Chris.

"Have ya met my friend Miyako yet?" the tomboy grabbed Miyako by the neck of her black shirt and dragged her to face Rick.

"Hey aren't you that girl in my Spanish class?" Rick asked examining Miyako.

She nodded weakly, but looked up at him when he started laughing. "What's so funny?"

Rick pointed at her shirt, sticking out from the black was a pink wad of gum where she had leaned on the railing. The girl started turning as red as her hair. Rick turned around and laughed all the way down the sidewalk, leaving a humiliated Miyako and a stunned Chris.

"Well that went better than expected." Chris said, "Don't 'cha think Miyako?" she felt a sudden sharp pain in her stomach, where Miyako's fist connected with her abdomen.

* * *

"Ladies and gentleman we have a walk in Deus. What's your name little lady?" the announcer held the microphone in front of the red head.

"Miyako Haya." She said, her voice and name coming out from several speakers set up on the beach.

"And your Angel?"

"Angel Haru."

He then leaned over to another girl with dark brown hair and gray eyes, "And our other competitor! What would be your name?"

"Kacy Armstrong."

"And your Angel's name?"

"Angel Lacy." The Angel referred to as 'Lacy' was an Angel about Haru's size, with a long white gown, light blue hair, and held a long white baton for a weapon.

"Alright! Now that we know your names lets know how you battle! Angel Haru, Angel Lacy! To the Layer!"

Kacy and Miyako each sat at one end of a table with an average size layer placed on top. Chris was watched from the crowd gathered around the stage.

Lacy fell in first, her gown flew up and revealed long white stocking underneath. She opened her icy blue eyes and stared at the yet-to-fall-in Haru.

The pop Angel fell in next, falling in without any fancy movement. She landed with one leg outstretched behind her, one knee on the ground. Was held up by her right arm and the other gripped the silver bass guitar behind her back. The yet-to-be-braided hair fell in her face before she stood up. _They told us before the match we could use our weapons. But we've never used the guitar yet so we'll have to start from scratch, Haru. _

A few images popped in her brain, mostly of concerts where she watched the guitar players. Before Miyako knew it Haru had strummed a few notes on her guitar. Which made the audience giggle.

"Angelic Fight!" the announcer cried letting the battle begin.

Haru kind of just stood there stupidly, till Chris shouted something from the audience. "Haru! Do the worm!"

_What the heck is she yapping about? _Miyako thought, before noticing Lacy was speeding towards her ready to punch. The silver haired Angel dropped to her stomach, avoiding the punch.

Chris continued yelling stuff, "Bust a move! Like Metallica!"

_Is she even ALLOWED to help me? _The red head was getting annoyed, but remembered Metallica break dancing, bust mostly when she spun on her head with her legs outstretched.

Balancing on her head Haru outstretched her legs and spun. In a sense it was an attack, seeing as she managed to land a lot of kicks.

"Shani style!"

"Stop helping me!" Miyako cried back, but took Chris's advice. Haru stood up and used some of Shani's light, quick steps. She danced over to Lacy who had sustained a lot of damage; now in range Haru did something of her own. She brought the guitar around slamming it into Lacy's back. The bass made one of those weird sounds when someone breaks a banjo over someone else's head in a cartoon. It didn't break but it sure did make Miyako giggle.

Lacy landed on the other side of the layer, out cold.

A cricket started chirping, even though it was the beach. "…" The announcer paused, "That was an… interesting match… But Angel Haru takes the win with her dance-like styled attacks. And with that weird weapon." He added the last part silently.

It took a moment but the audience finally clapped, after Chris started them off with some hoots and whistles. They whispered amongst themselves about what a weird match it was, but how impressive it was all the same.

The red head removed her head set, Haru shut down as she did. She started turning red as the audience applauded her, even if it was a crowd of only fifteen. She blushed more when she noticed Rick was among the fifteen. _He's here! Omigosh omigosh! OMIGOSH! _She picked up her Angel and leapt off the stage. _Thanks all the same Haru! We did great!_

"That was some fancy shootin' Tex." Chris said as she finally caught up with Miyako. She was being kind of weird now.

"One, you helped me. And two, I hate it when you say junk like that." Miyako mumbled back.

"One, I shouted out crap but you were the one who pulled it off so technically I was only giving you advice. Two, I love it when you get irritated at what I say."

"Just shut up." Miyako growled back, shoving her hands in her pockets, and placing the Angel in a pocket in her backpack.

* * *

"So what do you think of Miss Miyako?" Kita asked, staring up at Jesse with a curious look.

"Well, she's cute."

"Boys…" the girl rolled her eyes, "I mean do you think she has potential?"

"I think she's got lots of potential. And the potential to make a good girlfr- OW!" he yelped as the ten year old leapt onto a chair and whacked him with a rolled up Time magazine.

"Just once I'd like you to stop thinking about girls. Thank you for observing her first battle for us. I don't think we'll need much more on her so you're free to go." Kita dismissed him with a wave of her hand. After collecting his observation notes of course.

"So… Miss Miyako. What do you have in store for us?" she mumbled to herself.


	5. Track 05: Shani's Solo

**Ve1's note: I really tried to get this chapter done before Breeze and I ran off to New York for Spring Break. But I didn't so sorry for the delay. And yeah, in the fifth paragraph of chapter 4 that was a spelling mistake I made on purpose. Chris doesn't use correct grammar all the time; she's got her own lingo.**

**Okay, my chapter updates are going to be even slower. I'm working on a Naruto AMV, which is taking a ridiculously long amount of time. And I'm working on a novel, yes a book, I'm making it way better quality than any of my fanfics too. The chapters are nice and long, full of action packed fighting. So says my friends, anyway that takes up a lot of time too. On top of that is Algebra. Evil, out-to-get-me Algebra. I also had to attend 'Math Olympics' because I'm supposedly am good at Math. I came in thirteenth place, though there were only twelve people I was up against. And that took up all the time I had planned to use to finish this chapter! (rips hair out)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Angelic Layer**

Claire trotted into her homeroom, in the usual perky way she cried, "Gooooooood Morning!" the rest of the Seakittie students didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Though Chris, who also had Algebra first thing in the morning looked up and nodded a good morning. Chris was still a little tired from the weekend and the battles, and dancing, and… the list just went on.

Her parents found out she left the house for a sleepover and were angry, for some reason. She really hadn't done anything bad. She came home as soon as she woke up and checked on the house, let the dogs in and re-locked everything just incase. So she was up till all hours being lectured on how-to-be more responsible.

Miyako only got in trouble for her room being a mess after their sleepover and she hadn't done her homework till that night. She still seemed a little grumpy from the whole gum thing. Rick passed her in the hall earlier and started laughing again and went off to tell his friends about it. By eight thirty it was posted on a bulletin board in large red letters on neon yellow paper. So it was kind of hard to miss.

Smoothing out her black and blue skirt Claire took a seat, placing her pink, book-covered books in the desk next to Chris. "So what's up?"

"The ceiling." The tomboy next to her replied, in a grumbling sort of tone.

"No silly! I mean what's new?"

"I know what you mean I was being sarcastic."

"Sooo…?"

"So what?"

"You haven't answered my question yet Chris!" Claire's vast amount of patience was starting to become thin.

The brunette heard her friend heave a sigh before opening her mouth to speak, "Nothing much. Miyako and I have been practicing for the show," _On a DDR machine _she mentally noted, "We bought a voice maker for Metallica and Haru and…"

Claire cut her off, "You bought a Angel Voice Creator!"

"Yeah."

"Can I borrow it?"

"Sure, I'll give it to you after practice today?"

"That would be great!"

The teacher who stumbled in interrupted their conversation, "Class! Quiet down and take your seats!" Chris and Claire were the only ones to quiet down; everyone else got louder, making the teacher very angry. "QUIET YOU HOOLIGANS!"

A cricket began chirping from outside the window as suddenly even turned to face Mrs. Turner in silence.

"Very good. Now class today we will be learning about…" she turned back into a very quiet happy-go-lucky teacher, and didn't seemed to mind the terrified looks on her pupils' faces.

**Oscar's Dance Studio, 5:03 pm**

"Did ya bring it?" Claire asked excitedly, while poking Chris's arm.

"Yeah." From her gym bag she pulled out the box the Angel Voice Creator was stored in. "Now would you stop poking me?"

The dance teacher, Oscar, glanced over in Claire and Chris's direction. Out of curiosity he silently joined their little group to get a better look at the box. "Is that one of those Angelic Layer things?" he asked.

Oscar was a really nice guy. He opened the studio awhile back, and his first three students were a little quiet red head, and tomboyish blonde, and a cheerful brunette. He always gave Miyako, Chris, and Claire special attention, though no one seemed to notice. Oscar had dark colored skin and gray eyes. He usually wore a black muscle shirt, black sweat pants, and a black, spandex, bandana like thing. (I think it's called a doo rag or something oo )

Claire nodded, "Yeah! We started playing a few days ago."

"My son just started playing, the tyke's not bad for a seven year old." Oscar grinned.

"Maybe we'll battle him someday!" Claire dug in her bag and pulled out Shanti to show her teacher. "This is my Angel, Shanti."

Oscar studied the doll for a moment, "A ballerina? I'm not surprised since its Claire." His grin widened as the brunette fake-pouted. He next studied Metallica, which Chris has dug out. His eye's first fell on the black and blue sword the Angel held, "You might want to put that away, parents might be worried that it's real. Once again, I'm not exactly surprised. They both look excellent." For a moment they were all silent, "Where's Miyako?"

"Not sure." Chris and Claire replied.

**Miyako's House, 5:25 pm**

The red head stared wide-eyed at the laminated card in her hand. Since Piffle Princess wasn't too far away they had managed to send her Angel Card in impressive time. "I got my Angel Card…"

_Deus Haya Miyako_

_Angel Haru_

Even though it as just a simple red card it meant so much. "Hey! You know what Haru? We can enter real tournaments now!" she paused, glancing at her watch, "Oops… I forgot about practice today… I know the routine anyway so I'm sure Oscar won't mind."

She rolled over on her bed, picked up her remote and turned the TV on. Apparently Angelic Layer was so popular it had it's own channel. The first thing that showed up on the screen was a fight going on between a star spangled, pink-haired Angel and a huge green-haired Angel with a pink dress. "I wonder which Angels are fighting?" Miyako wondered.

_The balance Angel wasn't doing so well in this fight. The bigger Angel kept blocking all her attacks. She leapt backward staring coldly at her opponent._

_The Angel's Deus, a tall brunette seemed really worried, she was fidgeting with her fingers. She took a deep breath and calmed down, sending her Angel back into the fight. The larger, Power Angel grinned, grabbing the other Angel by a fist that was ready to punch._

_In an instant the Angel swung her other arm around but the Power Angel also caught that. She then swung her leg up in another attempt to attack, but that was blocked when the Power Angel shifted her arm and blocked it. Only having one other leg to attack with she made a final attempt, this time putting all she could into her kick, which was successful. The Power Angel was forced to let her grip go and was blown out of the layer._

"WHOA!" Miyako stared at the screen. "THAT WAS AWESOME!" She rolled back over on her bed to talk to Haru; even though it was kind of pointless talking to a doll, "Don't you think that was cool Haru?"

She blinked, and then turned red from embarrassment, "Wait! Why AM I talking to you?"

"_Our next battle will be between…"_ _the announer said._

Miyako squealed, which was very un-Miyako-ish, "Cool! Another battle!" the red head glanced back at her TV.

_A red haired Angel in a long kimono was battling a blue Angel. They wre both doing very well throughout the whole match, which only lasted a few thirty seconds. The red haired Angel shed her robes to become faster and quickly knocked the enemy out of the layer._

Her emerald eyes grew wide, "That was awesome too!" Miyako was being very un-Miyako today. Squealing, showing emotion, and actually being excited for once was all something Claire would do. This thought came to her, _why do I act all excited when I'm watching and playing this game? _

It reminded her of something she wrote down a while back. Sliding down the ladder on her bed and stepping over to her desk, Miyako pulled a small black, and yellow book. It was very old, the silver sharpie on the front that read, _Miyako's Diary_, had begun to fade.

_I haven't looked at this in awhile. My old sixth grade diary, how I missed it. _Sitting down in her chair she flipped a light on her desk on. Flipping to an entry that was book marked Miyako began to read to herself.

* * *

_December 7, sixth grade, fifth period_

_Dear Diary,_

_I just realized something! It may sound kind of silly but I've noticed that Claire, Chris, and I have begun to sort of bleed into each other's lives. I'll explain._

_I always take a wooden, cooking, hammer thing and always hit my ramen a good few times to make sure it's broken up. I find it easier to eat that way. For lunch I was at Chris's house. We decided to have ramen, she pulled out two Maruchan© bags and started hitting them with a mallet. I know that Chris never used to do this before._

_When Claire was over at my house for dinner (which was spaghetti) a while ago, I found myself twirling the noodles in my fork. I never, ever used to do this. I found slurping the spaghetti more fun. So I have picked up one of Claire's habits._

_Before school I noticed Claire was getting picked on, like usual. A couple of really tall guys took her favorite, pink-colored, binder and were tossing it around. Before she would always sit down and cry, but today she waltzed right up to one of the guys, and slapped him. He automatically dropped the binder and recoiled backwards. I remember that same approach being used by Chris once, same situation except she marched up to one and slapped him._

_Anyways I just wanted to write this down. I'm rather sure there are more things I've picked up from my friends.

* * *

_

She smiled at her memories. _I guess I must be becoming more cheerful like Claire or something._

Stealing a glance at Haru, Miyako grinned. "I've finished all my homework, and there's another public tournament today. Let's go by ourselves and try some of your own moves." She picked up her Angel, the silver bass guitar and was out of the door in a flash.

**6:03, Beach Public Tournament**

Shani dodged every punch thrown at her. She was so graceful, so light. It seemed as though she wasn't putting any effort at all into the battle.

The enemy, Angel Karah, who was dressed from head to toe in a red, peacock outfit, was having a hard time in this battle. It was impossible to lay a finger on this Angel! Shani was just _too _light. Just a little too light. Karah had been built with a maximum emphasis on speed too, so why couldn't she keep up?

Karah's Deus, Amelia, was horrified when her Angel threw a punch and Shani caught it. With the same lifeless look Shani wore through the whole battle she pulled Karah forward and pushed her out of the layer. The ballerina Angel won.

"Angel Shani wins the match! Karah couldn't even lay a finger on this graceful ballerina!"

"We did it Shani!" Claire squealed excited. The ballerina looked up at her Deus, eyes halfway closed as if she were sleepy. On Sunday Claire's brothers had gotten a hold of Shani and messed up the joints in her eyes. She could only open them halfway now. Claire still loved her Angel anyway, at least they didn't mess up her mouth joints, and so Shani could still smile!

Miyako, who had been watching in the crowd, clapped softly and flashed a smile. She'd already signed up for a battle and was going to be up soon.

"Next, we have Deus Lila and Angel Loki. Versus Deus Miyako and Angel Haru!" the announcer read off a card that was handed to him.

The red head trotted up on stage, with Haru on her shoulder. Her opponent, Lila, was a girl much older than herself. She looked Asian; she had black hair and black eyes, but also had a warm smile. Angel Loki, was an Angel looked about the same height as Haru, probably the same parameters, with blonde hair. She wore a blue ball gown type outfit, long blue gloves, and a tiara in her hair.

"Good luck," Lila said sending Miyako another smile.

"Likewise." Miyako nodded.

"Angels to the Layer!"

The silver haired Angel and blonde Angel both fell in.

"Weapons may be used in this fight. Now… Angelic Fight!"

Haru instantly went on the defensive, Loki didn't have a weapon but she was coming at Haru with a punch. Ready to pull the guitar up and onto her shoulder so she could attack Loki with it, Haru accidentally strummed a few notes. And they were pretty loud ones too. The Layer began to rumble as the deep, low sounds came from the little Angel.

Surprisingly Loki lost some hit points. This gave Miyako an idea, _do that again…_

The silver haired Angel plucked the strings in no particular order, sending more loud, rumbling sounds to shake the Layer. The enemy Angel lost her balance and fell on her back. _Bingo!_

Dropping the bass Haru darted over before Loki could make another move. She swung her leg down and dealt Loki a sharp blow to the side. Her hit points dropped dramatically. The enemy landed a few inches from the edge of the layer, and in a flash tumbled to the floor as Haru attacked again.

"Victory Haru!" the announcer ended the match with a wave of his hand.


	6. Track 06: A New Groove! Enter Jesse!

**Author's Note: Wah! My best friend (now my ex-bet friend) and I are fighting. So While I have some freed up time because I don't call or talk to her on AIM anymore I'll write more chapters. Anyways. Hope you like this chapter! Reviews would be very much loved!

* * *

**

**Hrdc0re: **Why didn't u go 2 practice?

**Rocknrolla: **I forgot, sorry…

**Hrdc0re: **S'okay Miyako.

**Rocknrolla:** 'kay.

**Hrdc0re: **I also heard from anonymous sources that u played hooky 2 go 2 a fight. Are my sources correct?

**Rocknrolla: **Claire's eyes did not deceive her. I went to the public tournament.

**Hrdc0re: **How did u know it was Claire?

**Rocknrolla: **Because you don't have any other sources besides Claire and me. I got to get ready for school. And you need to also. Ciao

**Hrdc0re: **C'ya

_Hrdc0re has signed off._

_Rocknrolla has signed off._

Miyako had signed on earlier for no particular reason, and apparently so had Chris. Today was only a half-day and there was no school tomorrow since there were going to be some renovations at Seakittie.

Digging in her closet Miyako was able to find one of her black uniform skirts, and one clean white uniform shirt. _I really need to do laundry today._ She mentally wrote herself a note to do her laundry today.

Quickly getting dressed she dashed downstairs, grabbed a Pop-tart and her school bag and headed out of the door. Trotting down her brick stairs that led to the sidewalk something caught the red head's eye.

A tall boy dressed in the same style uniform as herself. Crisp, white collared shirt with the Seakittie High School logo, black pants (although girls were allowed to have their choice of skirt), and a bag that also had the Seakittie High School logo on it. He looked sort of familiar too. He had messy/spiky blonde hair and powder blue eyes like Claire, she didn't want to admit it but he was kind of cute.

Miyako trotted a little faster, pretending not to notice him. She flicked her hair a couple times to get his attention, until he finally spoke to _her_, "Hey… Aren't you that Deus at the public tournament on Sunday?"

Turning around Miyako acted surprised, as if she hadn't known he was there, "yes! We're you there?" _So that's where I must've seen him!_

"Yeah. You did all those freaky dance moves."

Offended by this Miyako spun around and waked faster.

"Hey! Wait! I meant it in a good way!" he ran to keep up with her.

Turning to look at him again a little grin etched itself on her face; "Out of curiosity how many times a day does your mouth get you in trouble?"

He pretended to ponder this for a moment, "What time is it."

Miyako grinned, amused, "I'm Haya Miyako." She held out a hand.

"Jesse Kimoni." He replied, instead of shaking her hand he curled his into a fist, tapping the top of her hand and the bottom.

_He's sort of like a surfer dude or whatever. But he's funny. _She thought. She had seen plenty of surfers do the same thing. "Is it your first day at Seakittie?"

"Yeah." Jesse replied, "Kinda nervous."

"Can I see your schedule?"

Jesse handed Miyako his class schedule, she examined it then grinned, "That's kind of weird. You and I are in the same grade and we have the same classes."

_That's 'cause Chief Mihara hacked the school system and set it up that way…_ he thought, "Heh. Yeah, that is weird. But cool, no?"

She only smiled, and then glanced at her watch. "Oi! We better hurry or we'll be late."

* * *

**Seakittie High, East Hallway**

"That's way weird. Your locker is opposite mine." Miyako said pointing to her locker on the opposite side of the hall.

_That was Icchan too…_ "Talk about strange."

"Totally strange. But hey, you got the locker next to the snack machine." The red head grinned. Her grin faded as a familiar, high-pitched voice rung down the East Wing.

"Mimi!"

"So help me God…" Miyako whispered, bracing herself. The brunette rocketed down the hallway locking Miyako in a bear hug.

"Friend of yours?" Jesse asked.

Not able to breath Miyako didn't answer, except for a quick nod. Chris, who had been following Claire, panted as she came onto the scene. After taking a moment to catch her breath she pulled Claire off Miyako. Miyako dropped onto her knees, gasping. "Claire, you know what happened to Miyako LAST time you gave her a bear hug."

"I sowwy. But I'm just so excited!" Claire stifled a giggle, remembering how Miyako had to be rushed to the hospital last time. It's not her fault ribs break so easy?

"About what?" Jesse asked.

"The tournament silly! It's all over school!" Claire giggled. "Oh! And I gave Shani a voice last night!" The brunette removed the ballerina Angel out of her backpack. Though nothing about the Angel had changed at all it's Deus seemed ecstatic.

"Jesse just got here. He's only been in school for five minutes so how would he know. I don't know either though." Miyako shrugged; obviously she's recovered from the death hug.

"There's this big tournament that's going to be held here soon. The winner gets a lot of money and Angel points and stuff!" Chris explained, "And! The winner also gets to battle the East Coast Angelic Layer Champ!"

"Just how much money are we talking about?" Jesse asked.

"Five-thousand dollars." Claire smiled.

"I'm so in!" Jesse and Miyako cried in unison.

Claire seemed offended by this, "Guys. Angelic Layer isn't about the money. It's about the joy and pleasure one receives from the game." She said this in the most feminine voice she could salvage.

"Lesee… I had curry ramen yesterday so I think I might just have chicken flavored today…" Jesse mumbled to himself, obviously not paying her attention.

The redhead also paid no attention. "With five thousand dollars I could hire a butler, maybe he'll do my homework for me…" she muttered to herself, dollar signs replaced her normal emerald eyes.

"ARE YOU LISTENING?" Claire roared.

* * *

**A few hours and some bruises later…**

Miyako practically rolled into her house, tired and sore in the spots Claire had hit her when she went nuts after Jesse and her didn't pay attention. "I'm so glad to be home…" She started the difficult journey – in a sense – up her stairs, shocked and angered by the sight that befell her eyes.

"_Today was the worst day of my life! My crush saw me with a wad of gum stuck to my shirt! I almost died from embarrassment!" _Miyako's little sister, Khaki, read her diary OUT LOUD to two of her little school friends while bouncing up and down on her bed. And was wearing one of her bras! The trio turned to stare at Miyako, in the doorway, who was having a meltdown.

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM YOU SCUM COATED POND CREATURES!" She screamed while launching herself into the room and lunged for her little sister. The three first graders shrieked and stumbled over each other to exit the room.

By this time Miyako's face was as red as her hair, she successfully managed to retrieve her diary, and her bra. By force though; she grabbed her little sister by her collar and literally threw her out of the room.

Lucky for Khaki, the floor was carpeted and she got away with just a rug burn.

Slamming the door behind the three frightened girls the red head climbed up onto her loft bed and fell face flat onto her soft black and blue pillows. She also screamed into them, only making muffled noises though.

Glancing around for any other missing objects, Miyako was happy to find that nothing so far was missing. Then it hit her Haru was missing.

"KHAKI!" she roared storming out of the room.

Trudging down the hallway the red head angrily stomped into her sister's room. "WHERE'S HARU?" she roared. Her little sister and her friends were playing with dolls in Khaki's room.

"Who's Haru?" they asked.

"My Angel! Silver hair. Red eyes. About ye high." Miyako parted her hands vertically to about Haru's height.

"Oooooohhhh… You mean Kelly."

"What?"

"Kelly! We call her Kelly!" Khaki held up Haru, who was dressed in a fluffy, pink ball gown and with many little bows tied in her spiky silver hair.

"Kelly? What the crap! That's _my Haru!"_ Miyako cried snatching 'Kelly' out of Khaki's hands.

"Give us back Kelly!" Khaki cried back, jumping forward to try and grab for Haru.

"It's my Angel! And for crying out loud her name is Haru!"

"It's Kelly! And you don't even play with dolls! What do you care?"

"Yes I do! I do care and I do play with dolls!"

The room fell silent; Khaki inhaled a deep breath. Then she blurted, "MIYAKO PLAYS WITH DOLLIES!"

"I-I m-meant," she was a goner.

"MIYAKO PLAYS WITH DOLLS! MIYAKO PLAYS WITH DOLLS!" the little girls chanted.

It must have been a record, for the first time in at least aweek Miyako's face turned cherry red.

* * *

**End Note: This was so freaking hard to write! For one thing I had writers block. And also, I really don't feel like writing this story anymore. Sad as it is. I seriously considered discontinuing it. But after I got all those reviews I decided to keep going. You guys really do keep me writing. Thanks again Daydreamer, Motoko, Saint X, and Lauraline! **

**Pssssstttt! One more thing! I have already started writing the sequel to Against the Odds.**


	7. Track 07: Battle of the Bands

**Author's Note: Please allow me some time to not update... my best friend is going to commit suicide and there is nothing I can do to help her but be there and talk to her. So give me some time to myself, I'm extremly depressed and I'm really sorry...**

**Disclaim: Trust me. If I owned Angelic Layer I wouldn't be writing Fanfics about it...

* * *

**

"I'm bored."

"Same."

"Yeah."

"This sucks."

The four teens lay on the beach, staring at the waves as the rolled onto shore. Three Angels dressed in swimsuits sat in front of each girl. Jesse was the odd man out with no Angel.

Claire made bathing suits for each Angel, just because she was bored at home last night and thought it would look cute. Shani's suit was a pink bikini with a little blue ballet shoe design. Metallica had a dark blue suit that was like a halter-top and came down to about her navel. It was metallic and had no design. Finally, Haru's was a black halter that tied at the back of her neck and came down to about her ribcage (If she had one) with a red note design and black short like bottom piece.

"Well, Shani looks… cute." Chris commented, trying to make small talk.

Everyone else nodded and Claire just said a quick thank you.

"You guys signed up for the tournament thing. Right?" Claire asked.

A chorus of 'Yes's followed.

"Good. Then we better get going." Claire stood up shaking out her towel.

The other three looked at each other all confused. "Why?"

"'Cause it's today. Duh."

"What!"

"Huh?"

"Nani!" (That came from Miyako)

Claire grinned, feeling powerful at the moment, "Honestly. Didn't you guys read where it said, 'Tournament May 25?' Today is the twenty fifth!"

Everyone, save Claire scrambled to get their stuff together, all ready to go within minutes.

"Great. Chris, you're driving right?" Claire grinned.

An audible sigh escaped the older girl, "Apparently. To the battle wagon!" she shouted, referring to her dad's station wagon.

"Are we there yet?" Claire asked, just to get on Chris's nerves. Since there was no one behind her Chris stomped on the brake to send the brunette flying forward. As far as she could go in a seat belt that is.

"NO!" Chris pressed the gas pedal again. Jesse and Miyako, in the back remained quiet.

A hush fell over the car until Claire couldn't stand it. She broke the silence with, "How about now?"

"NOOOO!" Chris roared, resisting the urge to strangle Claire. "Do you want to go to this tournament or not?"

Everyone was silent after that.

"Are we-?" four hands reached up from the backseat and clamped over Claire's mouth.

Shortly after getting Claire to shut up they arrived at the Angelic Layer stadium in downtown. All four of them were still in their bathing suits and shorts, aside from Jesse who was wearing swim trunks and a loose shirt. So the three girls dug around in their bags, realizing they hadn't packed any extra clothes. "Dog gaunnit!"

"Darn it!"

"Goda-" Chris got halfway through her foul word before Miyako covered her mouth quickly with her hand.

"Potty mouth." Claire teased. The three only had shorts and beach skirts to wear over their swimsuits.

After receiving strange looks and after signing in they entered the stadium and stepped into the waiting room. Miyako was wearing orange shorts, blue flip-flops and a blue bikini top. Claire an extremely short pink skirt, pink aqua socks and a pink top. And Chris a black one-piece swimsuit shorts and flip-flops. While on the other hand every other Deus in the waiting room was fully clothed. Jesse seemed fine since his trunks could pass as shorts.

_"First Battle: Claire Anona versus Adriana Shomo."_ A monotonous sounding person said over the intercom. Claire smiled happily exiting the room with Shani. A girl across the room stood and left the room, so everyone guessed she was Adriana. "Deuses in the waiting room, you may proceed through the door next to the front desk to watch the battle." The intercom said after a few minutes of silence. Almost everyone got up and left the room to go watch.

The room was dark with a large television, surround sound and a red shag carpet. Everyone stood from shortest to tallest so they could each see the screen clearly. The tv flickered to life as the Angels fell into the layer.

Shani twirled her scepter, showing off a little and dazzling the crowd; especially all the little girls who immediately fell in love with her.

Her opponent, a tough looking Angel spun her brown staff several times. It had a wicked sharp tip shaped like a silver crescent moon on the top. She looked as if she were built for power, rather tall with long dark blue hair and steely gray eyes. She wore a short skirt, dark blue, a white, skintight, short sleeve shirt with a dark blue ribbon on the chest and long dark blue boots that went to her knees with a silver crescent moon design. On her hands were white gloves with no design that went past her elbows. The final pieces to her costume were a dark blue choker with a silver crescent moon and a golden colored headpiece with a silver moon design that was between her silver eyes. Overall she wore minimal armor.

"Angel Shani!" the announcer raised his hand, "Angel Bakura!" his hand raised higher. "Angelic Fight!"

She flew from the ground at lightning quick speed, racing towards Bakura, Scepter in one hand and ready to punch with the other. Only a few feet, inches, centimeters apart.  
_Boom!_

The crowd gasped. It looked to be a one hit knockout, but appearances can be deceiving.

Shani flew back, almost to the edge of the layer. She took on major damage, her hit points were still calculating. Claire gasped. _HOW?_ She though; begging mentally for an answer. Bakura's guard was down, yet in the blink of an eye she had almost been defeated.

The points were calculated and more than half of Shani's HP had been deducted. Still on the ground the speed Angel tried pulling herself to her feet, but to no avail. Tears formed in the corners of Claire's eyes. She didn't want to try again, she didn't want to get Shani hurt again. A wave of emotions rushed over her, fear, frustration, anger, worry, doubt, and an emptiness she had never felt before.

* * *

"She wants to give up." Chris crossed her arms.

"What are you talking about?" Miyako asked.

"Shani can get up, but she's guided by her Deus's heart. Claire right now doesn't want to keep fighting so Shani _can't _get up. I'm almost angry at Claire…" she closed her eyes, "I know her, if she gives up at the beginning of the race she can't come from behind."

"So you mean…?"

"… Claire's fighting spirit is not strong enough for this opponent. She cannot win."

* * *

_Shani please get up!_ Claire pleaded her Angel.

The Angel seemed to be in great pain, she struggled to her feet, only able to get onto all fours. She was close to standing up, almost to her feet when Bakura struck again. It was a hit that she put little effort into, but enough to break Claire's heart again.

The ballerina Angel collapsed again, her hit points were close to zero. Claire squinted her eyes shut as Shani was hit on the back by the base of Bakura's staff.

"This doesn't look good for Angel Shani! It's been a one way fight this whole match. Shani has taken much damage but Bakura is completely unscathed!" the announcer cried. This didn't exactly encourage Claire any.

The ballerina appeared to be panting and completely worn out, she was back on all fours again. She didn't seem to care that Bakura was looming over her. Shani looked up at her opponent pitifully. _I don't want to fight anymore…_ Claire choked back tears. She took a moment to look up at the layer and gasped.

Bakura's staff was raised high above her head, ready for the final blow. She swung it down, but was blocked! Shani raised her scepter to block the oncoming attack. But the force from Bakura's blow sent her skidding to the very edge of the layer. She laid on her side, unable to get on her knees anymore.

* * *

"This is…" Chris started.

"The end…" Miyako and Jesse replied.

* * *

Bakura walked over casually walked over to Shani, ready to send the Angel off the layer probably. "I'm sorry, but I've got a promise to keep!" Adriana said loudly so Claire could hear.

"Huh-?" she looked up, blinking at her opponent confused.

She was just in time to watch Bakura's staff raise and drop like a bomb onto the middle of Shani's stomach. The speed Angel squirmed under Bakura's staff for a moment, until the computers finished calculating the damage. Then Shani became lifeless.

* * *

Miyako, Jesse, and Chris let out a breath they hadn't realized they'd been holding.

* * *

Claire sat in shock for a moment. She'd practiced and practiced with Shani. But in under a minute she had been defeated without even touching her opponent.

Adriana turned off Bakura, walking over and gently picking up both Angels. She headed over towards Claire's chair, placing the Angel in her hands. Claire must have still been in shock because she just sat there staring.

The girl nodded and walked back towards the waiting room.

Three teenagers walked out onto the floor, removing Claire's headset and getting her to snap out of her shock. They then circled around her and led her to the waiting room.

Claire sat down, turning back into shock mode.

Miyako, Jesse, and Chris returned to the 'screening room' to watch the next match. On their way they eavesdropped on a conversation.

"Adriana is really nice but you've gotta be careful around her." one girl said to her friend.

"Yeah… I know… she breaks your fighting spirit at the beginning of the match, then it's smooth sailing for her the rest of the way."

"I heard that 95 of Deus's that go against her never play Angelic Layer again."

"Really?"

"Yeah! I heard it's extremely hard to repair a broken spirit, even if you do you doubt your Angel and they lose."

_There's more to this game than just playing with toys! _Miyako realized, _this is a journey! Oh my gosh… I sound like those people who take everything seriously!_

Chris huffed as she watched the match end on the TV.

"Christina Lenon and Amy Wang. Please go to the arena for your battle!" a less dull sounding voice said over the intercom.

Chris let out another audible huff and left the room silently. _Let's kick some butt Metallica. _She thought walking slowly so the Angel on her shoulder didn't fall.

Claire joined her two friends in the waiting room. But there was no high-pitched hello or a death hug. She just gave a weak smile and stare at the ground.

Jesse noticed her powder blue eyes had lost there shine and the happy glow n her face had faded.

He jerked his head up when he heard the surround sound boom out Metallica's name.

Metallica's arms were crossed and she wore that same dark scowl like she did every time she stepped in the layer. Her sword leaned lightly on her leg, looking wicked sharp and deadly.

Her opponent, an equally dark looking Angel scowled right back at her. She too had a sword, it was much thicker than Metallica's. Her opponent was slightly taller than Metallica so more than likely she was a power. Good thing Metallica was a defense.

"Angel Metallica! Angel Kali!" the announcer looked at both Angels who looked to him and glared. "Angelic Fight!"

The clang of metal rung throughout the arena, and several snarls as both combatants attacked with all their force. Another clash and more growls and snarls. For this match the odds were dead even.

* * *

**Next Track Preview!**

_**Metallica is a defense Angel and Kali is a Power. Both have no effect on each other. It'll be a tough and long match but Chris's determination could be enough to overcome! But Amy seems pretty determined too! And what's up with Claire? She wants to withdraw?**_


	8. Track 8: Boulevard of Broken Dreams

**Note: We made it to part two. Yay! Sorry it's short but I needed to update really badly.**

**Disclaim: I own the characters that never appeared in Angelic Layer, Clamp owns everything else.**

"Angel Metallica! Angel Kali!" the announcer looked at both Angels who looked to him and glared. "Angelic Fight!"

The clang of metal rung throughout the arena, and several snarls as both combatants attacked with all their force. Another clash and more growls and snarls. For this match the odds were dead even.

_Part the Second. Don't Dance Solo_

* * *

Kali snarled and leapt back as did Metallica. She landed hard on her feet and skidded backwards since the high-heeled boots had little traction. She tapped her metal claws on the ground, already hunched over with her legs spread for more balance, one hand on her right bent knee and the other holding her sword.

She waited patiently for Kali's move. Power Angels were slow, as were defense but Metallica was also held down by the weight of her sword and her battle costume was gave her less freedom of movement. Chris was definitely going to make a better costume after she got home.

Kali grimaced, her cold eyes glaring daggers at her opponent. She held up her sword, spinning it around a few times before charging.

As Chris predicted Kali was slow, Metallica charged also, her sword close to her chest. She got rather close before flipping over Kali for an attack to her back. But fate is cruel. Her left heel snapped on her boot and sent Metallica toppling to the ground. She landed on her caboose, unable to recover fast enough. Kali whirled around, bringing her sword down, if the defense Angel hadn't rolled away she would have taken a heavy hit.

* * *

"Women and their clothes…" Jesse grumbled watching as Metallica's heel snapped, "They always have to look… OW!"

"We do not always go out dressed up like Barbies!" she argued. He grabbed Miyako by her pigtails and turned her head towards the screen.

"Let me direct you to the screen…" he pointed at Metallica's mini skirt, ridiculously high high heels AND her heavy make up.

Miyako admitted defeat by jerking away and crossing her arms.

* * *

_Oh no… oh no… oh no! _Chris thought, amber eyes darting in every direction. Metallica stood up awkwardly. Kali seemed amused. Moving again she went for a direct attack, knowing that Metallica could barely move without falling.

Chris ordered her Angel to jump to the side, which resulted in Metallica once again falling down on the layer.

_Now what do I do? _She wished for an answer, when a little light bulb appeared above her head. (Not really)

Metallica reached for her right heel jerking it a few times before it too snapped. She tossed the piece of plastic to the side, standing up without any problems. The enemy Angel snarled again, now she'd lost her advantage.

The two stared coldly at each other, walking in a circle like they do in old cowboy movies. Metallica's blue and black sword in hand, the same goes for her opponent.

Kali was the first to move. She charged, sword outstretched, going in for the kill. Metallica _let_ her guard down, dropping her own sword.

There was a moment where everyone in the audience leaned forward and held their breaths. Everyone was on the edge of his or her seat; even the people in the screening room leaned forward.

The moment passed and everyone gasped, staring with wide eyes at the scene before them.

Chris smirked, Amy looked horrified. "H-How-?" she asked a little louder than she intended.

The blonde shrugged a little, "Kali is a great fighter but she is terribly slow. While she was charging Metallica dropped her sword and grabbed Kali's sword."

It was true. The defense Angel's sword lay near her feet. Her hands were close to her chest but were wrapped around Kali's blade. Kali stood still, one hand still holding the sword the other by her side.

"You were a great opponent Kali, I would love to face off with you again. Ta ta for now!" Chris commanded Metallica to say.

She put all her strength into it, while Amy watched helplessly. Metallica spun around, bringing the sword and other Angel with her. She flung Kali and her sword off the layer by letting go of the blade. Sort oflike a discus throw in a sense.

The audience erupted in cheers and applause. Metallica bowed before being taken off the layer by Chris. With the defense Angel on her shoulder she trotted out of the arena, happy as could be.

* * *

Meanwhile…

* * *

A brunette girl watched the battle, becoming enveloped in jealousy. As Metallica flung her opponent off the layer she cursed at herself for not being strong enough. _Shani and I could have done that!_ Her once innocent powder blue eyes became steely and cold.

* * *

"Up next! We have Miss Miyako Haya and Angel Haru." The announcer said enthusiastically.

The crowd exchanged glances, very few people have heard of Angel Haru.

Miyako stepped into the arena, receiving some strange glances at her attire. She turned a little pink before trotting over to her chair. Her opponent, a boy about her age with black wavy hair also took his seat. He gave her a small smile before putting on his headset and throwing in his Angel.

_Oh! Haru!_ She picked up her Angel and gently tossed her in the layer. Haru landed gracefullyandruck a pose with her guitar. The audience laughed.

"Versus Eriol Tachibana!" the announcer said pointing to her opponent.

Eriol's Angel was a tall power type. He looked as if he was a cross with speed too, since his frame was built skinny and light from what she could tell. He wore a tuxedo, completle with a bow tie. His hair was combed back, colored dark blue. Though his eyes weren't visible because they were under a white and black mask.

"Angel Haru. Angel Mask." The announcer looked to each Angel. "Angelic Fight!"

Haru plucked the E cord making a deep rumbling sound echo through the entire stadium. Mask barely moved, let alone take and damage. She tried the G cord, which played a high pitch sound. Only one hit point was deducted from his gauge.

_How? She's playing really loudly and he's not taking any damage!_

Miyako could already tell: **she was in way over her head.**


	9. Track 09: I Won't be Home for Christmas

_I don't understand! He's not taking any damage!_ Miyako squinted her eyes shut, trying to think of a plan.

"It's all in way he's built." A voice said.

She opened one emerald eye to see it was Mask's Deus who was speaking to her, "Huh-?"

"I've battled Angels like Haru before. Who use music to attack. Mask has a special customized, _soundproof_, outfit." He explained with a small, evilsmile. "The vibrations Haru sends out when she plays a couple notes hurt an Angel's joints. Since his clothes are soundproof he won't receive a lot of vibrations."

Her eyes widened slightly, understanding what he meant. Haru looked shocked as well, she almost dropped her guitar. _We'll just have to do hand-to-hand._ She thought, _Let's go Haru…_

The Angel charged forward, bass in hand, gaining speed till finally she was in range. Her arm with her guitar was high in the air, coming down on mask quickly. _Closer… closer…_ Stop.

Everyone in the audience leaned forward, holding their breaths. Even the people in the screening room, save Claire, looked horrified.

The silver hair Angel's eyes widened, "B-But…" she mumbled at Mask.

"My dear you are a Power Angel, not a Speed, don't think you're too quick for me." Mask replied. He'd locked onto Haru's elbow before she could strike, stopping all movement. With that said he brought up one leg quickly, slamming into her unprotected stomach. He let go just in time to send her across the layer with a good deal of damage.

She landed with a sickening 'Crunch!' rolling onto one side and simply stopped moving.

The audience continued to hold their breaths, especially the few Haru fans out there.

"Give up-?" It seemed as if her opponent liked to talk through his Angel more than he liked talking himself.

For a moment Haru didn't reply, but ever so slowly her arm began twitching and she pushed herself up onto her feet. She shook terribly, dropping her guitar so she could stand, "N-Never…" she started weakly. The Angel turned her head upwards, silver hair falling over her face except for her right eye. That crimson colored orb burned with the desire to win, "I'll never give up-!" The audience heaved a sigh of relief, leaning back in their seats.

Miyako felt strange, light headed, she was only commanding Haru to move; but she was talking by herself! Maybe she was sub consciously commanding Haru to talk?

Mask smirked, crossing his arms, "We'll see…"

Haru growled in anger, her eyes went wild and she charged at an amazing speed. It was fast enough to match a Speed Angel's but she was still pretty fast. Once in range she pulled her arm back landing a hard punch in his gut.

She didn't end there, Haru was enraged now and she was going to make him suffer for what he said. After throwing mask off balance with her punch she fell to the ground, bringing her leg around and knocking him off his feet. Once she had gotten him on the ground she curled her fist into a ball, landing another punch aimed at his head.

The Angel stepped back to examine her work, her eyes returned to normal and she seemed to calm down. Well she did let out all her anger on him…

Mask barely moved, he seemed shocked, as did his Deus. His head was bent in an unnatural way, the fabric on his stomach had been torn off from the power of her punch, and his legs seemed fine… for the most part.

"Angel Mask is unable to fight! Angel Haru wins!"

With that said the audience burst into loud cheers, the battle had barely lasted a minute and the 'comic relief' Angel had won!

* * *

"Miya! A word please-?" Chris called to her trotting over. She barely got out a 'sure' before her friend started talking, "What happened out there-? You _destroyed _his Angel."

"It was a quick battle. I know Haru is a power and all but I didn't know she was that-"

"No…" she said looking rather grave, "You literally **destroyed** his Angel. Mask's arm is broken is several different places, his leg is hanging on by a wire, his voice box was destroyed and his neck joint are shattered. Why did you-?"

After listening to all this Miyako felt her stomach lurch, "It wasn't me! I-I mean…"

"How could it not be you-? You were controlling Haru…"

"I-I-I mean… I didn't mean to do it. I don't know what happened," by now she had sunk down against the wall, arms wrapped around her legs, "I lost control and Haru tapped into my feelings or something."

"… What do you mean-?"

"I was upset when Mask underestimated us… and she got angry because I was upset…"

* * *

Manymonths later a large pink envelope arrived. Everything was written in baby blue ink that changed to purple when in the sun, the Piffle Princess logo was faded to a watermark in the background. And… it was lemon scented! The envelope was addressed to 'Miss Miyako Anna Haya', and requested her presence at the Semi-Finals in Japan!

Inside she withdrew a letter, two planes tickets, some papers, a sticker sheet of supposedly famous angels ("Why is there a sticker sheet? I don't even know who these Angels are…"), and some more documents. Everything inside the envelope was apple scented.

Most of the papers were release forms, so they wouldn't be reliable if she got on the wrong plane and ended up in Timbuktu. Other sheets were just applications on the in depth things of your Angel. While filling it out she wondered if this was actually a survey in disguise:

_What is you Angel's Name?_

**Haru**

_What are his/her parameters?_

**Power/ Speed (Primarily power)**

_Do you consider your Angel guided by any sort of object or thing?_

**Music (pop/rock)**

And so on and so forth.

Miyako flopped down on her bed with a heavy sigh, school had ended awhile ago and it was almost November! She had eagerly awaited the coming of her Junior year, but she realized how much life sucked with school AND Angelic Layer. She'd been training with Haru and Chris let her borrow Metallica to get a feel for different Angels. It was awkward at first but the girl came to realize that training hard with a different Angel seemed to make controlling her easy-to-control Angel much easier to use. They had grown much stronger, but the only problem was nobody wanted to abttle her. After seeing what she had done to Mask everyone feared their Angel's might suffer the same fate.

Chris had battled her a couple times though, claiming that Miyako now had complete control over Haru, and that she no longer had that anger problem. Claire on the other hand, had become obsessed with training. She almost failed her final exam after replacing the time she reserved for studying with hand-to-hand practice. Chris told her she would wear out Shani's joints if she continued her seven-hour training sessions.

Claire didn't care. She never wanted to do anything anymore except train. She'd gone pretty much insane; if she messed something up she'd get angry and train harder. Several times Shani had simply shut down when her motherboard inside got overheated. Though the girl didn't seem to care, she'd pick Shani up, dunk her in cold water and throw her back on the layer; expecting the Angel to work again. Usually this method cooled down the motherboard at least a little.

Usually the water trick worked but Chris was right about wearing out the Angel's joints. She was no longer lightning fast, nor was she elegant and gracefully. Her ballet like moves became stiff and choppy. Her hair lost its shine after being dunked several times. Her outfit had begun to fade to an ugly gray with pink blotches, also due to the dunking. There were visible scratches on the plastic that was her skin, most looked like nail marks. Some of the glue that held her hair in place turned black and began to run down her head, giving off the appearance of black blood also due to the water. In some joints she had begun to rust. Angels were water proof to an extent but shouldn't be exposed to too much.

Shani was no longer beautiful; she was an abused Angel working till her system shut down. Her powder blue eyes had faded to a pathetic grayish blue. It was a horrible sight, most people pointed ad said they felt back for 'that Angel'. Some thought her costume was meant that way and ignored Shani. Others thought Claire had lost her mind, most people believed this.

Miyako and Chris baked her a cake and brought it to her house once during the summer. They had gotten worried when they couldn't get a hold of Claire. Her parents sad she'd been locked in her room for three days and refused to come out. Claire's father said she would sneak out when everyone was asleep to get food and take care of business.

The two would walk up to their friend's old house, everyday for a while. And everyday they would hear the same thing: 'She's locked in her room'.

After returning to school they were approached by what seemed to be a new student. Her auburn hair was very messy, knotty, and dirty. Her pale blue eyes were tiny and full of fear. Her jeans were torn at the knee, and her shirt had seen better days. The girl was also hunched over a little. "Can we help you-?" they had asked.

"Juss wanted to ask how Haru and Metallica are."

"You know our Angels-? They're fine." Chris had replied to the strange girl.

She reached into her pocket, pulling out Shani, who had also seen MUCH better days. You cold only imagine the reaction Claire received.

* * *

The phone on her desk rang, and Miyako snapped out of her daydream. She slid down the ladder of her loft bed and ran to answer it, "Hullo! Miya's room, how can I help you?"

"_Yo." _Came the tomboyish voice on the other line. Miyako flopped down in her swivel chair and giggled.

"Hi Chris."

"_Did you see what days were going to be gone? For the tournament I mean."_

"Err…"

"_Can you check now? The parentals have it and they're at work."_

"Yeah, sure! Hang on-- it says," her stomach lurched.

"_What-? Khaki been putting Haru in dresses again?"_

"No… it's much worse than that." Miyako shook her red pigtails, "We leave on December twenty third, arrive on the twenty fourth. Rest for a day, the twenty fifth, and the tournament is on the twenty sixth! We won't be home for Christmas!"

"Miyako… you do realize what you're giving up for this… this… game!" her father was not at all happy about this. She nodded, making her slightly curled hair bounce, "And you still want to go-?"

"Hai…" (Miyako speaks Japanese too), "I really want to go. This may be my only chance!" she pleaded, "And… I can be there for Christmas, bring the wireless web cam around the tree and the laptop and I'll watch you guys open presents and you can say hi to me too! And… and… for the big Haya family feast you can put the laptop in my spot and I'll be with everyone! I can-can take part in the conversation, say hello to family!" she was desperate for an excuse to go.

He sighed heavily, rubbing the temples of his forehead. He glanced at Miyako's mother who sobbed but nodded to her silent question, "Very well…"

"Thanks…" Miyako said solemnly as her parents signed the permission slip and reluctantly handed it back to her.

Back in her room she sat down at her desk, staring at the signed slip. She was getting her light to read by from the hallway, but she noticed that it suddenly grew dark as a little figure stormed into the doorway. Spinning around in the swivel chair she raised a brow, "Can I help you, vermin?"

"Yes you can! You can stay here for Christmas!" Khaki, Miyako's little sister flipped the switch for the light. Dust drifted from the lamps and Miyako twitched as there was a sudden brightness to her room.

"Khak… you know I can't do-" she was interrupted by the enraged little girl.

"Don't you 'Khak' me! Christmas at the Haya house is the only time we get to see our Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and you're just skipping around with your stupid doll, running off the Japan and letting down everyone! Everyone comes to see _you!_ You're popular! You're on TV! You were on the front page of the newspaper!"

"Need I remind you that was the school newspaper? Seakittie high hasn't anything interesting to write about and someone saw me on TV and wrote an article. And need I also remind you it was on the Piffle Princess Show, it always shows the high lights of big battles from the big tournaments!" she narrowed her jade eyes at the girl, "incase you haven't noticed I'm not popular."

Khaki's face began to turn a cherry red, "If you don't stay- then-then- I'll make you stay!" With that said she slammed the door shut, stomping down the hall screaming. The room became very still, until a painting fell off the wall of course.

Suddenly Miyako had a pretty bad feeling about all of this. She only had one permission slip-sheet. And Khaki didn't need to get a hold of the sheet; she could destroy her plane tickets. She'd have to hide them; Khaki was capable of finding most anything. So in the middle of the night Miya heard the rocks hitting her window, she opened the window and grinned.

"Hey! Jesse!"

"Hurry! It's way past curfew for me! Just drop the tickets and permission slip!"

"Kay!" the girl had shoved the tickets and slip in an envelope. She closed it and tossed it down, "Thanks a ton!" she hissed back a little late because he'd already snatched the envelope and rocketed towards his house.

Even with the permission slip safe in a place Khaki would never be able to get it, she still had this strange nagging feeling. She glanced at Haru who had slumped over, Miyako gulped; it might be a bad omen. No matter what bad omens she received, or how many diabolic plots Khaki attempts to keep her home. She was going to that tournament, nothing could stop her now.

* * *

**Note: Whew! That took a little while! I'd like to thank all my reviewers for well the reviews. So thanks Starberry, Myth Keeper, Motok and Day Dreamer. Oh, and thanks a lot Starberry for the review on ATO. My goal was to keep getting reviews even after it had been completed. (Grin) Oh… and the sequel will be premiering in a few days; get your tissues 'cause I put in a lot more drama, tragedy, and some twists ya won't believe.**

**If anyone can guess who sings the song that's the chapter title I'll give you pocky. If you review period I'' give you pocky. Extra pocky who an guess the artist of the song though. (Hint: Starts with a B)**

**Until next time!**

**-S.R. Sparran aka Ve1vet**


	10. Track 10: Dance the Night Away

After a quick lunch at Panda Express, Jesse (who mysteriously got a ticket), Chris and Miyako headed towards the airport. They insisted that their parents meet them their because Miyako's Dodge Dakota only sat four, and anyways she's sixteen now and can drive herself around.

Khaki had done everything she could to keep her sister from leaving. She'd gone on a hunger strike, planted smoke bombs in Miya's room, dug through her room to find the plane tickets, almost destroyed Haru, locked herself in her own room for the weekend, take herself hostage, and so on and so forth. This morning she tried locking her big sister in, but the locks are inside the bedroom. To Miyako's relief. She had kicked and screamed her way into the car, saying Miyako isn't going. Though Mr. And Mrs. Haya managed to shove her in the back seat.

It was another reason Miyako didn't want to be in the same car with her sister.

Chris decided to bring her dog, Chansey. It was named that when she got it… Miyako thought this was a good idea and brought her own dog, Hawkes. So one seat was occupied by two small-dog carriers, Jesse sat next to them a little upset that he had the back seat though. The rest of their luggage was tied down in the back and some on the roof.

The older of the two girls and boy navigated with some directions off Map Quest. "Take the next exit… then go straight and we're there!"

"Okay…" she sighed happily. "For a minute there I thought we we're going to be late…"

"Can't leave without the best Deuses in Virginia Beach now can they-?" she grinned leaning back in her seat. "Stop!" she said just in time for Miyako to slam on the breaks, she had almost run the light when she wasn't paying attention.

Jesse looked like he was going to be sick. To his relief they arrived at the airport, he jumped out of the car to kiss the ground while people stared. The two girls laughed, hopping in the back for their luggage. Chris got a little embarrassed when he tried to embrace the ground and threw his carry on bag at his head.

"Ow!" he yelped sitting up, "What was that for-?"

"For making out with the ground. Now come and help us unload!" she half yelled at him, struggling under the weight of one bag.

Much struggling later they had successfully made their way into the airport and through security. Their tickets told them to go to gate 7A and wait there. Passing the other gates they arrived at 7A looking rather shocked. "Omigawd…" Jesse heard Chris faintly mumble.

The ENTIRE gate was decorated with pink and powder blue. A big banner hund from the ceiling saying 'Welcome American Deus!'. Some of the seat were altered to look like Angel Eggs that you could sit in, some normal airport seats were covered in flowers. "It's so…"

"Pink…" Chris gave a shudder as she stepped onto the pink carpet. "Agh- it burns!" she pretend her eyes were burning only getting a chuckle from the two other teens.

They were just in time, because the attendant called for all passengers to begin boarding. The plane was also decorated in flowers, Angel eggs, and pink; somebody was not going to be happy ("It still burns!")…

Grabbing the window seat Chris fell in next to her, grumbling about how is she had it her way the airplane would be painted black inside and out; and Jesse found a spot next to a dark haired boy with glasses. After take off and after hitting a bit of turbulence the flight attendant came by asking if Chris and Miyako wanted a drink. Chris ordered a coke, when her friend didn't answer for a few seconds she gave her a slight nudge.

Still no reply, "Miyako hurry up and give her your order." She paused, not really looking over. Once again there wasn't any reply except a small, almost in-audible 'claa…'. "Hurry up and give her your order godda-" she looked over a little ticked off, but then she noticed Miyako had nodded off to sleep. "it…" (A/N: She almost said the G word! (gaspeth)) "She'll take a sprite."

Instead of the usual plastic cups they poured soda in the cups were shaped like Angel eggs; with flat bottoms of course. She carefully pulled Miya's tray down and set the drink on it for when she woke up. While leaning over she was able to catch the small 'claaaa' sound, which apparently was coming from Miyako. Listening hard to ear if she was actually saying something' Chris had to make a quick save, almost spilling the cup and it's contents.

"irrreee…" her friend breathed.

Even though Chris seems like the normally poised intelligent one of the three I would like to take a moment to point out that: She. Indeed. Is. A. Blonde. She rolled the two words over in her mind, _Claaaa… irrreee…Hmm… Oh! Claire! She's dreaming about Claire!_ D'oh…

Many hours later Miya woke up, rubbing one emerald eye and looking sleepily over at Chris, it was her turn to sleep now. It was probably around three am back home, and they more than likely would be arriving in Tokyo soon.

Most of the passengers had fallen asleep, save Jesse and glasses kid next to him. Jesse was hissing a laugh when glasses boy half whispered a joke. From where she sat she could tell her was biting his tongue so hard it might bleed.

"Jesse…" she hissed so not to wake Chris.

"What…" he hissed back, grinning in her general direction.

"What happened while I was asleep?" Miya asked, letting her hair down, her pig tails had started to droop from sleeping on them.

"Well… not much, an accordion player came speeding down through the aisle on a unicycle… A zookeeper was on the wing trying to catch a butterfly… the apocalypse… OW!" she threw a magazine at him, thanking God she had played Middle School softball.

"Please tell me-?"

"Alright… Chris ordered you a drink like six hours ago, I s'pose the ice melted and its watery, she also tried to order a scotch from three different flight attendants; Claire called, me and Eli here have been swapping stories…"

"What did you say-?" her green eyes widened slightly.

"Chris ordered you a drink like six…"

"Not that!" she hissed receiving an annoyed grunt from a sub conscious blonde next to her, "the second to last one!"

"Claire called your cell phone, we took the liberty of answering it for you. Apparently she doesn't like me cause she hung up when I answered."

"Why would Claire do something like that?" she asked though Miya kind of knew he didn't have an answer to that.

"'Cause it's Claire I guess," he shrugged, watching Chris stir again, "Anyways we're arriving in Japan soon so ya might wanna get your things together." She gave him a strange look that he read as 'What stuff-? I've slept the whole time-'

* * *

"_How's Japan?"_

"Crowded" there was a chuckle on the other line.

"_Well just callin' to ask how you are."_

Chris looked around nervously and then whispered in the phone: "Thank you baby, have a good Christmas. I love you," but she wasn't slick enough to get away from Miyako who rolled on the floor, howling in laughter.

"_Bye sugar-" CLICK!_

"Chris has got a boyfriend! Who is it!" Miya stared at Chris with wide eyes.

Very rarely does Chris blush, her face turned cherry red and mumbled: "Yanno that guy that works in Hot Topic-?"

Once again the girl was on the floor with a laughing fit, "Omigawd! Him? Hahahahaha!" she fell back on the bed while her friend fumed.

Chansey whimpered and darted under the bed, while Chris started to stomp over to Miyako; Hawkes followed suit. You may call it luck, because just as Chris had wrapped her hands around Miyako's neck Jesse opened the door.

"Good evening ladies-"

"How's you get in here pretty boy?" the blonde growled at him. Jesse merely grinned and waved what looked like a credit card.

"Heh- I used to break into my sister's room a lot, it's quite a neat little trick isn't –"

Seeing her chance to escape the red haired girl slipped out of Chris's grasp and darted out of the door. Turning around Jesse looked from the door to the still angry Chris. "I think I'll be leaving now…" He followed Miya out of the door while Chris screamed threats of castration if he ever came in her room again.

* * *

**Two hours and more threats later…**

"And you kept Jesse waiting! Shame, girl!" Chris gave her friend a playful slap on the back of her head. Apparently she'd cooled off since their fight

"Well sorry!" she growled back rubbing the back of her head, blushing slightly at the same time. "I was having fun! That Lina kicked my butt." She mumbled.

"So having your ass handed to you is fun? You're so weird…"

"Yo! Ladies!" called a familiar male voice from a good distance, "We gotta go! Miya! You're battle is in twenty minutes!"

* * *

**Heya all! Sora here with the latest. **

…

**I sound like a talk show host, hahaha… (cricket) Anyways, yes I'm still alive, just grounded for getting a bad mark on my last test. So yeah. I've actually finished the next chapter for Living for the moment and almost done with the latest addition to Tomorrow's Melody. Thanks so much for all the reviews! (girly squeal) Vega, Miyako, Chris, Jesse, Vega, Kero, and Nami all thank you. (entire cast from every one of my fan fics pops out)**

**I would like to thank all my reviewers personally, so thanks to Motoko, Sugar, Daydreamer, and my distant cousin Erin (wolvenia). So yush, that's all. I would like to give Motoko a big hug right now, thanks for the crossover that was so cool. But, Kuro-chan would totally kill Haru! Even if they were both power angels.**

**In the next chapter… "Miya here! Giving you all the info on the next episode of Don't Dance Solo! Haru and I are up against a really tough tom boy named Lana and her Angel Gekken. But he's like twice Haru's size! And twice as fast! How can that be possible! And, when is Jesse going to show us his angel? Chris starts snooping around to find out while Jesse snoops around to see if Lana's cheating. On top of all this Claire is on forty-eight hour suicide watch? WHAT! All in the next chapter of Don't Dance Solo: It's my Life!**


	11. Mini: Metallica's Rough Night!

"Met… Met-!" the voice tried not to scream as she clung to the windowsill for dear life. "Metallica I order you to wake up his instant!" by now the silver hair doll didn't care if Chris woke up or not. She unhooked her guitar and threw it at her friend.

The instrument made an audible 'kloonnnng!' meaning she'd hit her target; score.

"What now?" the sleep-eyed Angel rolled over in her tissue box bed.

"Were heading out. And you're coming this time!"

"Do we have to do this every single Friday night?" she asked angrily, but quieted down as her Deus stirred slightly.

"Yes! Now hurry up!" a third, more cheerful voice piped up. She scrambled onto the windowsill, smoothing out her pink dress. Ever wonder what happens when Claire, Chris and Miyako are at school? Well the Angels spend their time making clothes for the big Friday night bashes in the mouse hole. All is explained later.

Shani hadn't gotten around to finishing her shoes, so she had to live with her ballet slippers. Metallica shuffled around in the tissue box for a moment, removing a navy blue tank top and shorts outfit from under her makeshift covers. She quickly changed from her pajamas and jumped from Chris's desk to the windowsill, bringing Haru's guitar with her.

When they had crawled down from the window to the garden Metallica assumed they were out of earshot of Chris. She then gripped the neck and slammed the guitar down onto her friend's head. Haru grumbled but didn't say a word, she had it coming.

They jogged out of the neighborhood, onto the boardwalk and then sneaked into a club called: Aqua. From there they suck close to the wall, slipping through a mouse hole and into what is called: Aqua-Mini. Music from the club pounded against the walls, and all sorts of Angel ravers bounced up and down in the crowded room to some pop music. Haru seemed to enjoy the music so she darted into the crowd, joining the mass of Angels.

Shani bounced on her heels a moment, scanned the room, then screamed and followed after Haru in a pink and blue blur. The heavy metal shook her head, making her way to the bar. "What'll it be?" the bartender asked.

"Penzoil, on the rocks." The Angel muttered, rested her chin on her palm. (Well I thought Angels would drink oil to keep their joints running? Yanno, instead of alcohol, haha.) She drummed her fingers on the counter patiently waiting for the next song, which turned out to be trance.

Haru returned from the crowd about ten minutes later, pulling up a stool next to her friend. "Why aren't you out there?" she asked, rested both elbows on the counter. Metallica took a sip of her drink and sighed.

"Just don't feel like it tonight. Don't you think we've kind of beat this thing to death? We've been coming here ever since the end of summer." She asked, turning to stare face to face with the power Angel.

"Well, maybe a little-" she replied, ordering a Quaker State. "But there's not much else to do out here." She paused, twirling around a sunflower seed from a nearby bowl. (Instead of peanuts they're sunflower seeds for Angels. Haha again) "We're lucky we even found this place." Haru added with a small sigh.

The bartender returned with her drink and they both paused to take a long gulp of oil. "But," Metallica started again, "Don't you ever thin there's a little more to life than dancing and fighting?"

"Not for Chris and Miyako." Haru said with a small grin. They laughed about it for a moment, sighing and talking another long gulp. "And not for us either." Haru continued looking a little more serious now.

Once again they took another long drink before ordering another round. "What's that supposed to mean?" Metallica asked, emptying her almost empty glass.

Haru did the same before replying, "I'm just saying we we're built-" she paused as the bartender returned with a fresh round, "We we're built to battle. Though the three idiots also make us dance while we battle as their technique. We really don't have much of a life."

The metal Angel nodded taking another long sip, which meant it was her turn to speak, "Yeah, but we've got three years to live, shouldn't we make the best of it? We're already seven months old dammit!" her words were a bit slurred.

Before Metallica could say anymore Haru took a drink, "Yes, but we're built to serve. Not to live."

They both took a long drink, almost chugging the last of their oil when Shani showed up. "Hey guys!" she slapped both of them on the back at the same time. The Angels covered their mouths but couldn't help spit up a little black liquid.

Metallica swallowed and turn to glare at the ballerina Angel, "Don't do that to us!" she roared over the music.

Shani put her hand on her hips and pouted, "Ya don't have to be so mean about it!"

Haru wiped some oil from her lips and set her glass down, "Don't bother arguing Sha, she's pretty much drunk."

"Oh god, not that Penzoil stuff again! You know that stuff is strong!" Shani cried. Metallica seemed to have completely ignored her, for she ordered another round.

"Metallica!" Haru and Shani cried.

"Good morning sunshines-!" Shani called cheerfully, jumping onto Miyako's windowsill where Metallica and Haru were sitting, both hung over.

"Shut the hell up." Metallica growled, rolling onto her side to sleep some more.

* * *

Well here's just a little 1000 word mini adventure while I finish working on Valiant and get back on track with Don't Dance Solo. Yes, Rain of Ages is gone, give me a couple weeks to sort out my life and I'll be back on track. Anyways, just to keep people from rioting or something I threw this in there, I really wanted to make a short story of Haru and Metallica getting drunk. Since I don't like Shani or Claire very much they don't get big roles. Sorreh Claire fans- she's just like Zack, a crappy character I made up when I was high on sugar. So after a few cream sodas I finally came up with this idea, Haru and Metallica talking about life issues. Pshaw, like they have any. Anyways, this might happen if they could think and stuff ( and get drunk for that matter). Ve1vet, over and out-


	12. Track 11: Imaginary

"You have got to be kidding me…"

"I don't believe it myself…"

The three stared at the crowd before them, there had to be at least a hundred girl at the bottom of the staircase, and fifty boys at minimum. Miyako was already doing the math in her head.

Supposing the odds were all equal, then her odds of winning were one to a hundred and forty nine. Give or take.

Supposing that she was still relatively new to the game that put her at a big disadvantage.

Supposing that if she lost, then what would happen to her? Would she be shipped back to America and be separated from Chris and Jesse?

Supposing if she lost, she'd come here for nothing and missed the precious time to spend with her family.

Right now her odds looked very, very bad.

Very bad being an understatement, because at that moment about twenty more Deus flooded in. Most of which looked very smug, with pep in their step and rather complex looking Angels on their shoulders. Suddenly, Haru looked very very pathetic.

Miyako turned around to walk out, but Jesse grabbed her by the arm and spun her around. "What are you doing!"

"Keeping you from leaving." He said apparently angered by her attempt to escape.

"Can't you see! We're going to lose!" Inside, though, she really didn't want to leave. But, the scenes of Khaki crying and screaming suddenly made her feel an overwhelming guilt.

Supposing that she walked out now she would make it in time to catch a flight back to Cape Henry. Would she be able to face Chris ever again? Think about it, walking out now would inevitably make her a quitter; a pet peeve of Chris's. Would she be able to face Claire? 'Hiya Claire! I left to go all the way to Japan just to you that there's hope even when the odds are against you! But I chickened out and came back here!'

She could just see how disappointed everyone would be.

Jesse's grip loosened and she stood and stared blankly at the ground for a few moments. _Claire… I'm sorry I even doubted myse- _her thoughts were interrupted by a small shriek as one girl was pushed down the stairs they had just come from.

Miyako reacted instinctively; she rushed forward with her left hand grabbing the railing and her right reaching out to catch the girl.

More than saving said girl from the fall she acted a lot more like a cushion as she fell back upon impact. For a moment there was awkward silence, but Chris who shrieked broke it. "YOU!"

She stomped forward as the weight rolled off Miyako and she opened one eye to see who she'd just saved. "Adriana!" she said surprised.

"You crushed Claire!" Chris screeched at Adriana while Miyako got to her feet.

Adriana, Bakura's Deus, trembled slightly and looked on the verge of tears. Surely this wasn't the face of a spirit-crusher. Adri was very thin, short, rather frail and pale. Haha, rhyme. She had long platinum blonde hair with two navy blue ribbons tied on each side. Her eyes were a dark shade of blue and she wore a knee length dress, navy blue also. Most of her outfit seemed to consist of blue.

"Th-thank you m-miss for saving me." She bowed quickly, "I-I'm terribly sorry if I hurt y-you."

"Aw cut the crap Shomo!" Chris stormed forward grabbing Adriana by the collar and lifting her a little ways off the ground. "Hurt her? Omigawd! You freaking hurt our friend! She's half-insane because of you and your stupid promise! Why don't you stop apologizing to Miyako and start apologizing to Claire!" With that she threw Adriana, who was saved a second time by Miyako.

Though Adriana was safe now, Miyako wasn't. As she pushed Adriana back onto her feet she totally forgot about the other flight of stairs that lead to the metro underneath the building. This time all hope seemed lost.

The stairs were concrete and if you've ever been to a metro station you know how large the staircases can be. A normal day usually has it's ups and downs. So far this day was all downs.

No pun intended.

Miyako held in a shriek as she felt her life flash before her eyes. But strangely enough, she never felt any pain. No slamming against the concrete, no dying, nada. She opened one green eye, "A-Am I dead?"

"Not quite." Said a rather deep voice behind her.

"Ayaaa!" she jumped and turned around, tripping on a stair and landing on her caboose. She paused to catch her breath, then stared up at a tall dark haired boy. Apparently her savior. "Oh umm… I believe thanks are in order?" she stood up brushed off her jeans. "Thank you very much Mr…" she held out a hand to shake.

"Diego Moiya; at your service my fair lady." Taking her hand and planted a quick kiss on it. Everyone watching from the top of the stairs broke out into excited giggles. Jesse glared a bit when Miyako blushed.

"W-W-Well thank you again for saving m-me." She stuttered as she felt Chris grab her arm.

"Thanks Diego for saving myidiot now we really need to check in." she waved at Diego, then continued to stomp up the stairs with the dazed girl. "C'mon lover girl." She said in a low voice as they reached the platform, "You too lover boy." she growled at Jesse.

They finally reached the check in after several minutes of pushing their way through the crowd. The trio probably should have just waited it out in line, since it took almost two more hours for every Deus to get checked in.

After a quick lunch and several naps later an announcer over the PA system announced it was time for the battles to start. To make things easier they split up the gigantic crowd of people into groups of a hundred each. Miyako was on the red team with about fifty other people and little Adriana; Jesse was on the blue team and Chris the yellow.

As she headed towards the waiting room with the rest of her team Miyako felt a tug on her shirt, she 'huhed' and turned to see Adriana. "I'm really sorry, thank you for saving me." She looked down at her feet; she seemed less scared without Chris around. The red haired girl flashed a small smile, patting her head.

"It's no problem." How could she hate such a polite person? How could this little girl have driven a someone off the edge, "But… about Bakura… what did you do that day to make Claire freak out like that?"

"I didn't do anything." She shook her head, "I just battled her and her spirit broke. Some people are like that. They're on top of the world but then they get beat and they feel like garbage." She added, pausing, "Maybe she thought she was going to win? Was she very good at Angelic Layer before we battled?"

"Very.'

"That's probably why."

Miyako paused, it did make sense, "So you didn't do _anything_ to her? I don't think you're lying-"

"Honest, there isn't like anything I could do, it just seems…" she clutched Bakura to her chest, "I always seem to battle people… and they get really sad… I feel bad." She paused, "I want to quit, so I don't make other people sad anymore, but," she glanced up at Miyako, "I made a promise to someone, that'd would fight until I got stronger."

_Can't believe I'm hearing this from such a delicate little girl, she's really determined._ The red-haed huffed, patting the younger girl on the head, "Let's go. Preliminaries are starting."

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, here's how everything works in Ve1vet land. I create a story with characters, weed out the one I don't like and put them through hell for drama. Some people didn't seem all that happy Claire is having such a freak-out time but she was the best for that part of the story. Meh, now I feel bad. Thanks for reading and sorry for the slow update.

* * *

Next Installment…

Showdown between Metallica and Angel Daichi, followed by the mighty Bakura and her opponent Sayoko-! Will we ever get to see Jesse's Angel? Will another spirit die after Bakura's battle? Plus, who isDiego? Friend or foe?Will ve1vet ever write a better preview? All in the next chapter! Thanks for reading-!


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